The Milk of Paradise
by Templarlady
Summary: Ulrich sends Bill on his most dangerous mission yet.
1. Chapter 1

**The Milk of Paradise**

Xanadu – Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Weave a circle round him thrice,

And close your eyes with holy dread,

For he on honey-dew hath fed,

And drunk the milk of Paradise

For the last six months or so I had made a point of travelling, once a month, to Charles Montague's house in Oxford. As his senior sheriff I needed to update him on any problems in the area, not that there were many, but Charles insisted on the meetings and Ulrich would occasionally appear to join us. They were both pleasant company and, although I adored living with Alex and our life together was comfortable and satisfying, I had to admit that I sometimes missed the company of other vampires, or perhaps it was just male company that I craved.

It was at one of these regular monthly meetings that Ulrich brought up the subject that nearly destroyed me.

That night, as Charles and I sat at his desk in the luxuriously appointed office, Ulrich was pacing around the room idly picking things up and replacing them. Watching him I felt a little uneasy as I had seen him pacing around like this before and knew he only did it when he was seriously worried about something.

"Won't you sit down Ulrich?" I said. "Tell us what's on your mind."

He gave a sigh and pulled out a chair. "Have either of you two had any problems recently with religious fundamentalists?" he asked bluntly.

Charles frowned, obviously puzzled. "Do you mean people like the Fellowship of the Sun, or the Warriors of Ra?" he asked. I'd hoped we'd seen the last of them for a while!"

"No…" Ulrich looked extremely uncomfortable for a moment. "I mean vampires."

"Vampire fundamentalists?" I asked, surprised.

"Does that seem so very unlikely to you?" he asked.

"Well yes, actually it does!" I said.

"You've never heard of the Sanguinista movement?" he asked looking from me to Charles, who looked slightly annoyed and said "Oh them!"

I looked from Ulrich to Charles. "Okay, is one of you going to enlighten me? I've never heard of them."

Ulrich sat astride the chair with his arms along the back and stared at me seriously. "Your maker taught you about the bible I take it? You've read it?"

"You mean our bible? The original testament?" I asked. "Yes, I've read it."

"Do you believe it?" he asked quietly.

I looked across at Charles and Ulrich, who were both watching me intently and realised with something of a shock that I had no idea what they believed. I hesitated for a second, not wishing to offend them. But I considered them both as friends now and felt that I owed them the truth.

"Do I believe that vampires were created in the image of God?" I asked. "That humans were provided merely as livestock for us to feed on? No, I don't see how anyone could believe that. We were all human once after all. I believe that I was created in the image of God, yes. But I was created human, not vampire."

Charles and Ulrich stared at me for a moment and then glanced at each other with a little nod of acknowledgement.

"Do you believe that our goddess Lilith exists?" asked Charles.

"Well….I'm prepared to believe that she existed once." I said. "After all, vampires must have come from somewhere and the testament says that she was the first. As to whether she still exists now…the testament says that she was destroyed thousands of years ago but, if she was truly a goddess, then who knows? Can a true god be destroyed by the hand of man as we are told that Lilith was destroyed?"

Ulrich continued to stare at me with a worrying intensity. "The Sanguinistas believe in the absolute truth of the vampire bible. They worship Lilith and believe that vampires should rule over humans. Their stated aim is to destroy the mainstreaming movement as sacrilege and take over the relics of the goddess for their own ends."

"You mean the blood shrines?" I asked without thinking. Both Charles and Ulrich sat up, suddenly alert.

"What do you know about the blood shrines?" asked Charles.

"Your maker was Lorena Krysiki, correct?" said Ulrich. "She was not privy to that kind of information. She could not have told you."

I sat back thinking frantically, I seemed to have talked myself into a corner here. I had known that the existence of the blood shrines was not general knowledge but I hadn't expected this reaction. In the hundred years since I had learned of them I had never spoken of this to anyone. I could have kicked myself for my stupidity in mentioning it now. "I didn't hear it from Lorena." I explained carefully, "but I have travelled extensively both before and after she released me. I learned of the blood shrines from another vampire during my travels."

"And where exactly in your extensive travels did you learn this?" asked Ulrich.

I could see that there was no point in trying to be evasive so I answered simply "in Egypt."

Ulrich sat back and regarded me with a new interest. "Yes," he said. "That would fit. "The two most ancient shrines were in Byzantium and Thebes. Others sprang up around the world over the centuries containing blood which represented that of Lilith but those two were the originals. They were said to contain the actual blood of the goddess herself."

"Both of them?" I asked.

"It's news to me that there was more than one!" said Charles, gazing at Ulrich in astonishment.

"The original blood collected when she was destroyed was said to have been divided up between the vampires who discovered her remains. It was always presumed that this was because they could not be sure it would be safe in one place. It was a dangerous time for us, the fledgling human race had destroyed our goddess and many of us with her. They thought that if they split up then at least one might survive. It's not known how many there were at first but those two were the only ones known to have survived from antiquity." He paused for a moment, his expression unreadable. I had no idea how old Ulrich was and I found myself wondering if he had lived through some of this history himself. "The Authority was founded in Byzantium, it's purpose was to protect the blood shrine and the sacred blood, but over the centuries we have had to move and hide so often that the original meaning of the shrine was almost lost. Upon the founding of the Americas it was decided that The Authority's headquarters would be moved from the Old World to the New. After the Louisiana Purchase the shrine was dismantled and moved yet again, to New Orleans."

Ulrich hadn't taken his eyes off me during this lecture but now he stood up and walked to the window of Charles' office and stood looking out into the night. Because of The Authority's involvement the Byzantium Shrine was by far the best known and knowledge of the Egyptian Shrine faded away almost completely." He turned back to Charles and inclined his head slightly. "Even you were unaware of it."

He turned back to me, leaning back against the window ledge and regarding me rather as a scientist would examine a specimen under a microscope. "You however, are aware of it. A relatively young vampire, not even originating from the Old World but the New. Whenever I feel that I know you Bill, that there is nothing new to discover about you, you surprise me!"

Charles coughed, pointedly. "How exactly does this relate to our problem?" he asked.

Ulrich turned to him. "I've been interrogating our prisoner, Clovis. The one who killed those girls from Magdalen. He's become quite helpful of late." Ulrich gave a cold smile and I wondered, with a shiver, what exactly he had done to loosen Clovis's tongue. "He tells us that he has been associated with the Sanguinistas in London and that their enthusiasm, their religious fervour, has recently been fired by a mysterious container of blood, said to be the blood of Lilith herself, which has been brought to London from Egypt by an equally mysterious woman who claims to be the guardian of the Theban Shrine."

"Berenice!"

No sooner had the name passed my lips than I regretted it. But somehow I knew that my knowledge of the shrine would make me a target for Ulrich's questions. Both Ulrich and Charles stared at me, shocked into silence for a moment.

"You've heard of this woman?" asked Charles.

Ulrich was staring at me, his ice blue eyes boring into mine. "It's more than that" he said, as though he were reading my mind. "You know her...don't you?"

I looked back at Ulrich. "Yes, I know her. But I gave her my word Ulrich, I swore to her that I would never reveal the whereabouts of the shrine, or even of her existence...to anyone!"

Ulrich pulled up the chair again and sat before me. "I think you've been released from that promise Bill. She has revealed herself and, if the rumours are true, she has brought with her the contents of her secret shrine."

He leaned back in the chair, stretching out his long legs comfortably in front of him. "Who is she Bill?" he asked.

I smiled gently, reminiscently. "She was a princess Ulrich, a princess of Egypt. The daughter of Ptolomy IV and his sister Cleopatra II."

"His sister?" said Charles, leaning forward over the desk to listen.

"It was common for Egyptian Pharaohs to marry their sisters, or daughters, or aunts" I explained. "The Pharaoh was a god and therefore his daughter was the daughter of a god. If she married someone other than the heir to the throne then that person would have as good a claim to the throne as the son of Pharaoh. Therefore the daughter of the god was married to the son of the god. The Ptolemies were all interrelated."

"How did you meet her?" asked Ulrich.

I sighed. "It's a long story...but it began ,strangely enough, in the Metropolitan Museum..."


	2. Chapter 2

New York 1903

It was in the autumn of 1903 that Lorena and I were invited to an evening soiree at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Lorena fancied herself as a connoisseur of the arts and, of course she would not be seen in public without me on her arm!

As it happened I found myself to be fascinated with the exhibition, which was of Egyptian antiquities. I was wandering the galleries alone, having left Lorena to preen herself among the more important guests when I chanced upon a man who was to become a good friend and a very famous archaeologist in his own right. He was a short stocky gentleman with an impressive handlebar moustache and he was leaning over a glass case examining one of the exhibits when I walked quietly in behind him.

I watched him for a moment of two and then moved forward to the case, stepping slightly more heavily than usual to ensure that he heard me coming as I had no wish to startle him with a silent approach. He heard me and turned.

"Now what's your opinion of these sir?" he asked. "Eighteenth Dynasty would you say?" he gestured at the contents of the case which contained numerous painted clay figures.

I smiled at him. "I'm afraid I'd have no idea. I'm a complete novice, although I must admit to an interest." I leaned forward and peered into the case." What exactly are they?"

He turned to look at me. "They are called Ushabti" he explained. "It means "Answerer". The Egyptians were great believers in magic, particularly in relation to the afterlife. Their idea of the life after death was that it would be very similar to their lives before death. Since their lives were based around the agriculture in the Nile valley they imagined that the afterlife would be the same and they would be required to work the fields as they had in life. These statues were intended to represent servants who would undertake any task the deceased was called upon to perform in the afterlife. They were inscribed with the name of the deceased and with a magical spell to ensure that they came to life to perform their allotted tasks. Look at this one." He pointed to the largest figure in the case. "See the engraved hieroglyphics? It reads "My name is Omari, I will answer for you".

I gazed at the engraving down the front of the tiny figure in awe. "And they truly believed this?" I asked.

"There's no reason to suppose that they didn't" he said. "They certainly went to a lot of trouble to ensure their smooth passage to the afterlife."

He turned back to me with a smile. "I should probably introduce myself shouldn't I? My name is Theodore Davis."

"William Compton" I said with a little bow, hoping that this would dissuade him from trying to shake hands with me, something which always made humans uneasy. Davis, however had already turned back to the case.

"Fascinating that they should go to so much trouble, a king's tomb would have contained hundreds of such figures. Some ancient artisan could have spent most of his life carving figures like this."

I watched him as he gazed at the tiny statues. "You are a true enthusiast sir!" I said. "And well informed. Tell me, how is it that you are able to read this ancient writing? You seem quite an expert, are you an archaeologist yourself?"

He laughed. "Oh I wouldn't say that, I'm an amateur really. I retired from my law practice a few years ago and I spend the summers at my home in Rhode Island and the winters in Egypt. I have a concession to excavate in the Valley of the Kings but I employ a couple of young experts to do the hard work!"

I squatted down on my heels staring at the tiny figures which were now at eye level, trying to imagine the people who believed that they would perform tasks for them in the afterlife. I smiled to myself at the thought.

"People have always had such strange ideas about death" I said quietly. "The Undiscovered Country!"

Davis smiled down at me. "An admirer of Shakespeare as well! I'm very pleased to meet you sir."

"Indeed!" I said, standing up and brushing a little dust from my knees. "Hamlet was quite right. I sometimes think that all human religion is inspired by the fear of death. It makes us "rather bear those ills we have than fly to others that we know not of" don't you agree?"

"Absolutely!" said Davis "For in that sleep of death what dreams may come when we have shuffled off this mortal coil?" Who can possibly know that?

"Who indeed!" I answered with a tiny smile.

We strolled down the gallery together, Davis pointing out objects of interest, until we came back to the main hall. "Did you say that you have an interest in Egypt yourself Mr Compton?" he asked as we approached the party.

"Well yes, I've read a lot about the discoveries made by the Italian, Belzoni. But I've never visited the country myself, although I should very much like to."

By this time we had reached the group of people surrounding Lorena, who always seemed to make herself the centre of attention. She was talking to a gentleman who appeared, from the number of younger men hanging on his every word, to be some important member of the museum hierarchy. Spotting me approaching she turned from him and waved her hand languidly at me. "Why, William darling!" she cried. "There you are! Honestly..." she turned to the crowd of young men with a light laugh "I can't take my eyes off him for a moment!"

I noticed that several of the young men looked distinctly disappointed at this pronouncement and began to drift away as I approached. One gave me quite a jealous glare as he passed. "Think yourself fortunate" I thought. "What wouldn't I give to be able to walk away from her!"

As Davis and I approached, the older gentleman turned and saw us. "Ah! Theodore! There you are. I want to introduce you to Miss Krysiki. Theodore is one of the museum's most generous patrons." Davis took Lorena's outstretched hand and kissed her white kid glove politely. "In fact, I understand that he is leaving us in the next few weeks for the Valley of the Kings where we are confident that he will make some great and momentous discoveries on our behalf."

"Why, how very interesting" said Lorena insincerely. She clearly considered that Theodore, however interesting his conversation, was unlikely to say anything to interest her. She was about to be proved wrong!

"Indeed, I have a concession from the Egyptian Department of Antiquities covering this winter's season" he said "and I should like to invite Mr Compton to accompany me if he wishes."

For a fraction of a second Lorena simply looked blank, as if she had not understood him. Then she gave little laugh. "Oh I really don't think that you would like that, would you William?" She smiled sweetly and glared at me.

For a moment it seemed that time had stopped, the circle of faces regarded me with a vague interest, none of them realising what a dangerous question Mr Davis had just asked. This was my chance, my first chance to get away from her. I could feel her eyes burning into me, daring me to defy her. I felt my body tense with the effort of screwing up my courage. "Why I'd be delighted!" I said, watching the fury flash in Lorena's eyes. "What an extraordinarily generous offer!" I knew that she would make me pay for my defiance later but for now, there was nothing she could do. She could hardly refuse me this chance, not before such an influential crowd.

I reached forward and took her hand. "Such a shame, Lorena dear, that the sun doesn't agree with you!"

* * *

Two weeks later I stepped off the boat at Alexandria on a humid evening. I stood for a moment on the dockside in the midst of the bustle of the workers unloading, listening to the calls of the workmen and the cries of the seabirds. The air was thick with the smell of exotic spices. Suddenly there was a crash and the level of shouting increased dramatically. A wave of cinnamon enveloped my senses and I turned to see a man in a long white jellabiya screaming at two workers who had dropped a barrel which had then spit open on the dockside. He lashed about him with a short whip, trying to keep off the crowd of dirty children who scuttled in and gathered up the fallen sticks of cinnamon.

I smiled to myself, recalling the strokes of Lorena's whip which had shredded the expensive silk shirt I had worn to the soiree, the blood sticking the silk to my pale flesh as she took out her frustration on me. However, I had refused to give in. Eventually she had realised that, if she did not allow me to go with Theodore, she would look like a needy, desperate woman who was afraid that she would be unable to keep her handsome young man. This she could not stand and so she had decided, after much cursing and threats, to let me go.

I breathed in the heavy scent of the spice and thought that the pain and humiliation she had made me suffer was worth it to be free, even if only for a short time.

I had arranged to travel alone and meet Theodore at Luxor. He had kindly offered to organise a passage for me with him and his team but I refused, explaining that I had personal business to attend to before I could leave the US. I should, in fact, have loved to travel with him but this, of course, would have been impossible. It took considerable organisation and several substantial bribes to the cabin stewards to enable me to travel at all.

Using the techniques taught to me by Lorena I was able to travel to Cairo and from there by boat, upriver to Luxor. I had arranged in advance to have the use of a small house off the Corniche, the main road along the Nile, with an extensive cellar cut into the rock ridge behind the building. The house came with several Egyptian servants to whom I explained in great detail through an interpreter that I was not to be disturbed during the daytime under any circumstances. I offered no explanation for this instruction as the servants appeared to be quite happy with anything I said. No doubt they considered that it was just another curious infidel habit which they were content to be well paid to ignore.

As it turned out sleeping during the heat of the day was not as unusual as I had feared and most of the work in the valley was done in the early morning and late evening. On the evening that I arrived Theodore came to visit and to introduce his colleague from the Antiquities Department. A young man who held the somewhat fanciful title of "Inspector General of the Monuments of Upper Egypt" and had gained his experience in excavating under the renowned archaeologist Flinders Petrie. Of course I was unaware at the time that he was to become, in due course, one of the most famous Egyptologists of all time. His name was Howard Carter.


	3. Chapter 3

It was evident from the start that Davis admired and trusted Carter who, in turn, had clearly surveyed the valley to find an area which was likely to provide Davis with some chance of success. Obviously he wanted Theodore to see some tangible results for his donation to the funds of the Antiquities Service. From some casual conversation with Carter I learned that the Service was chronically short of money and had vast amounts of exploration and restoration work already on hand. An offer of funding from my own, by now substantial, investments meant that Carter could not do enough for me and I found that I was welcome anywhere in the valley.

One morning I was leaning on a rock, idly watching the workmen clearing an area on the floor of the valley down to the bedrock. It was just before dawn as work generally began in the cool of the early morning. We had found some fragments of alabaster bearing the name of Tuthmosis IV, leading Carter to theorise that the tomb of the Pharaoh lay somewhere in this area but had been plundered in antiquity and its broken contents scattered far outside the entrance.

As I watched the men work I felt eyes upon me and looked around curiously to see what appeared to be a young woman walking towards me across the sand. She was small and dark, her black eyes sliding over to me whenever the opportunity arose. I could tell nothing else about her since she was completely covered in a long black robe with a scarf wrapped around her head and face. Most of our workmen were similarly dressed to protect them from the sun and the blowing sand, but I was aware that this was something more that that. Although our workers would sometimes bring their children to help them on the dig site it was unusual to see the women other than when they would bring food and drink to the diggers.

She passed the rock where I stood, giving me another sidelong glance before hurrying away. Soon afterwards I headed back to my house to rest for the day wondering who she was and if I would see her again. She appeared genuinely curious about me and I wondered if her interest was in me as a man, or if she suspected something was not quite right about me. With the natural wariness of our kind I resolved to keep an eye out for her and try to discover the reason for her interest.

Even before the Revelation there were people who knew of our existence. But they were men and women who were kept by vampires for their own use. They were generally addicted to the blood and the sex, and the vampires who owned them kept them locked away until they were of no more use to them. I had absolutely no interest in women like this, although I had met many who had offered themselves and, I must admit, I had used a few in the past to slake my hunger.

No, my preference was for women who came to me willingly, those who wanted me for myself, not for what I was. It was generally necessary to glamour them for both my safety and their own but for me the glamour always came afterwards, to protect them, not before, to coerce them. It struck me that this girl might possibly be such a one. If she had the courage to come to me of her own accord it might also solve the problem of my hunger, which had so far led me to prowl the back streets of Luxor searching for suitable victims. Suitable for me, that is. I had been reluctant to kill my prey since I discovered that, contrary to Lorena's assertion, it was not necessary. It was certainly easier than using my glamour to remove the memory of what I had done, but I had long ago decided that I would leave my victims alive if it were possible and only killed those who I felt deserved to die. Prowling the back streets of any city alone inevitably brought me into contact with a good many who fell into this category!

That evening I saw her again carrying a jug of water to some of the workmen. I was talking to Theodore at the time and I pointed her out to him.

"Who is that girl? Do you know?" He glanced over briefly, his eyes following my gesture, but it was clear that he was uninterested.

"No idea" he said. "Why?"

"I'm just curious" I explained. "It seems unusual to see women around the excavations."

Carter looked up from a map he was examining. "Oh that's Aleysha" he said. "She's Samir's daughter. He's the foreman, he allows her to come and help out on site as he has no sons but he keeps a very sharp eye on her."

"I see" I smiled. "Better keep my distance then!"

Carter grinned at me and went back to his map. I decided, reluctantly, that I should ignore the girl in future. The last thing I wanted was to draw unwanted attention to myself from her father!

However, despite my decision to keep away from the girl, it appeared that fate was to take a hand in bringing us together. Just a few nights later I was walking along a narrow street in the oldest part of the town when I spotted someone walking ahead of me. There was no moon that night and the street was dark but, although the small figure was wrapped up in a dark robe, something about the way it moved caught my attention. I followed, keeping carefully in the shadows and soon I was sure that it was Aleysha. What on earth was she doing out here alone? My curiosity aroused, I slipped quietly along the street after her.

She did not appear to be concerned and moved confidently, as though she were on a well-travelled and familiar route. I was just beginning to think that I was being over-cautious when I spotted a shadow in a doorway ahead of her. Before I could move an arm reached out and grasped her around the throat, pulling her into the doorway. At the same time another shadow detached itself from the far side of the street and moved towards the struggling forms. Without thinking I raced down the empty street and flung an arm around the neck of the second shadow. I heard a hiss from the dark doorway and to my surprise saw the faint light reflecting off a pair of long fangs. They were vampires! The one I held struggled weakly but was unable to free himself and the other watched with a shocked expression as I slid my hand under his companion's chin and forced his head back, although he kept his grip on Aleysha. It appeared that, fortunately for me, both were very young and relatively inexperienced.

I bared my fangs at the vampire in the doorway and said "let her go right now!" He stared back at me uncomprehendingly and it was obvious that he did not understand me. However, the one I held spoke up.

"You are the American?" he asked. "The one who works with the diggers?"

"Yes" I answered, "what of it?" I dug my fingers under his jaw and pulled his head further back. "Tell your friend to let the girl go or I'll rip your head off!"

He paused for a moment and then snapped something in Arabic to the other vampire, who released Aleysha's throat but held onto her arm. In turn I eased my grip on his jaw and he turned his head to look up at me. "She is not for us" he said "we were sent to find food for the Guardian."

"The Guardian?" I said, puzzled. "Who's the Guardian? Guardian of what?"

The both looked down at the floor, refusing to meet my eyes. "That is not for us to say" he said "but she has spoken of you. You have been observed with the American who searches for the ancient kings. She would like to speak with you. If you will agree to meet her you may have the girl."

I thought for a moment. The fact that the Guardian was evidently a woman was interesting, although I had no illusions that it would make any difference to the outcome of a meeting. For all I knew she might be someone like Lorena! However, I found that I was intrigued and besides, I felt I was in too deep to back out now.

"Very well" I said "I will meet your Guardian."

The vampire in my arms relaxed a little. "You will come with us!" he said.

I laughed "Oh I don't think so!" I said.

I might be curious, but I wasn't stupid. I let go of him and reached slowly into the pocket of my jacket for one of the cards given to me by the agent in Cairo. I held it out to him. "Here. This is my address. If she wishes to speak with me, she can come to me."

He stared at me for a moment and then reached out and took the card from my fingers. He said something to his companion, who pushed Aleysha into my arms and then they were gone. We were alone in the silent darkness. I could see well enough myself but I knew that for her, the darkness was almost impenetrable. She stood frozen, afraid to move.

"It's alright Aleysha, it's only me" I said quietly. Her tense body relaxed slightly and I placed my hand on the back of her head and gently tilted her face up to mine. As her wide eyes locked on mine I felt her relax fully as my glamour took her and the cold emptiness swept over me as I pulled her mind into mine. There! I could see an image in her mind of my face with my fangs bared, surrounded by a little knot of panic and fear. I tugged at the memory gently, removing it and replacing it with an image of me chasing off her assailants, neither of whom she had seen clearly. I blinked and broke the contact, smiling down at her. She looked puzzled for a moment and then wriggled free and ran away down the street and out of sight.

I walked slowly back to the house, deep in thought. Who was this mysterious Guardian, and what did she want with me? When I rose the next night I sent a message to Carter and Davis to inform them that I would not be at the excavations that evening. I sent the young man who acted as a watchman home and settled down on the verandah with a book to wait. After a couple of hours of twitching at the sound of every cricket in the garden I began to be convinced that she would not come and so, when I became aware of a figure standing at the other end of the verandah, I was pleasantly surprised.

"Good evening!" I said rising to my feet politely. "Won't you join me?"

She stood motionless for a moment and then stepped forward into the pool of light from the doorway. She was tiny, not much over five feet tall with long black hair and black eyes. Her face reminded me of those I had seen in wall paintings in the tombs and she wore a long white linen robe which enhanced the similarity. Somehow, despite her youthful appearance, she exuded an aura of great age and experience.

"So you are the American!" she said, walking towards me with a smile. "I was told about you. You work with the humans who dig in the valley. They search for the tombs of the old kings, but they have no idea what you are, do they?" She stopped before me and looked up into my face. "What would they say, I wonder, if they knew?"

"I have no idea!" I said. "I take great care to ensure that they don't find out."

"Why?" she asked, seemingly genuinely curious.

I smiled down at her. "Why do I work with them, or why do I ensure they don't find out I am vampire?" I asked. "Come to think of it, the reason is the same. Because I like them. I enjoy their company and if they knew what I was, if they were to find out, I should either have to kill them or glamour away the memory. I don't wish to have to do either of those things."

I gestured at the sofa where I had been sitting a moment ago. "Please, won't you sit down?"

She sat gracefully on the end of the sofa and gazed at me with what appeared to be fascination. "Why would you be interested in what I do?" I asked.

"It has been..." she paused for a moment, considering, "over a thousand years since I spoke with a human" she said with what sounded like a trace of regret in her voice.

I sat down beside her. "Who are you?" I asked, equally fascinated by her as she evidently was by me.

"I am the Guardian" she said simply, as if that defined her whole being.

"Yes, I got that...but who are you, yourself?"

"My name..." she paused again, long enough for me to wonder if she had actually forgotten it. "My name is Berenice. My family ruled the Red Lands long ago. My father was Ptolemy Philopater the fourth of his line."

I sat back thinking frantically. All I knew of the Ptolemies was that the first had been a General of Alexander the Great who was given Egypt to rule after Alexander's conquest and that the last was Cleopatra, the lover of Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. I gazed at her taking in the knowledge that this woman before me was of the blood of the ancient kings of Egypt. I laughed suddenly.

"I have amused you?" she asked.

"I'm sorry" I said. "I don't mean to offend you. It just struck me that we came here, my colleagues and I, to search for evidence of the ancient rulers and I've actually found one!"

She laughed at this and began to relax a little. "And what is your name, American?" she asked.

I flushed with embarrassment. "I'm so sorry! I should have had the courtesy to introduce myself. My name is William, William Compton."

"William..." she said carefully, trying out the name. It sounded strange and exotic on her lips.

Then I asked the question which had been puzzling me since the previous evening. "What exactly is it that you guard Berenice?"


	4. Chapter 4

She sat back and regarded me carefully. "What do you know of the goddess?" she asked.

"Which goddess?" I asked. "I know of many goddesses."

She looked shocked for a moment "I mean our goddess, Lilith. Surely your maker told you of her, gave you a copy of our bible?"

"Well, she gave me a copy, yes. She said that it had been given to her by her maker, but to be quite honest I doubt if she had ever bothered to read it!"

"Did you read it?" she asked.

"Yes, I read it. It claims that Lilith was a vampire who was created before Adam, created in the image of God. It claims that she was destroyed by the sons of Adam. I assume that this was after she had created others of our kind."

As I watched Berenice I realised that, whereas I looked on this as an interesting legend, a way of explaining how vampires came into existence, she believed it without question.

She smiled at me. "But you do not believe this do you William, I can see it."

I looked down, not wishing to meet her eyes. "Well, I tend not to believe anything without some evidence, not now anyway..." My voice trailed off into silence. I had believed, I had been a good Christian all my life. But Lorena had shattered my faith into pieces in a single night. I simply could not think of anything I had done in my life that was bad enough for a supposedly compassionate God to punish me with the horror that Lorena had brought.

She reached over and put her small delicate hand on my arm. "You did not choose this did you William?" she asked softly. "You are still very young, you miss your human life, this is why you still feel the need to be with humans rather than others of your own kind."

I looked up into her big dark eyes and saw only sympathy and sorrow. "Yes" I sighed "that's probably true."

"Poor William, you think that your God has punished you by making you what you are. But perhaps you are wrong. Perhaps the Goddess has a purpose for you."

I looked at her earnest expression and smiled. "Perhaps." I said.

To my surprise she leaned forward and kissed me gently on the lips. I must have looked slightly shocked as she backed away, but I slipped my arm around her and pulled her back. Her lips were soft and full and tasted strangely sweet. She seemed to hesitate for a moment and then leaned into me and began to kiss me more eagerly. I felt her arms move around me as she clung to me and then suddenly she released me and sat back.

"Forgive me!" she said a little breathlessly.

"Please, don't apologise!" I said with a smile. I tightened my arm around her shoulders. "What's wrong?" I asked.

She looked up at me, her eyes wide with what seemed like a suppressed excitement. "I'm sorry, it's just that it has been a long time since...since a man held me in his arms."

"I find that very hard to believe!" I said. "You clearly haven't found the right man." A thought struck me. "You're not alone though are you? What about the two vampires I met, they seemed to suggest that they served you?"

"Oh there are many who know me, who serve me" she said "but they know me as the Guardian, their High Priestess. They love me, but they also fear me."

"Should I fear you?" I asked gently, leaning towards her.

"Oh no!" she said softly. "I should much rather you loved me William."

For just a brief moment I wondered if I was being foolish, then she smiled shyly at me, hopefully, and I knew that she was telling the truth. I knew that the vampires in this area must all know her as this mysterious creature, "The Guardian". An ancient and powerful vampire to be respected and worshipped but to be placed on a pedestal. I was a rarity to her. A newcomer. Someone who knew nothing of her or her reputation, her purpose. And she clearly wished to take advantage of my lack of reverence for her position.

I stood up from the couch, picking her up in my arms. She weighed no more than a child and she slipped her arms around my neck trustingly and let me carry her into the house. I strode into the main bedroom, kicking off my shoes and sat down on the edge of the high bed with her in my arms. Looking around I realised that I had never actually been in this room before!

Berenice sat comfortably on my lap and reached for the top button of my linen shirt. I smiled as I watched her unbutton my shirt, her quick fingers flickering over my chest in the dim light from the hurricane lamps beside the bed. She tugged the shirt out of the waistband of my trousers and leaned forward to kiss me while her fingers began to fumble with the buttons of my fly. She made a little sound of frustration as she struggled to free my, by now substantial, erection. I smiled down at her.

"Easy, sweetheart..." I murmured. "We've got all night, remember?" I stood up, setting her down before me, and wriggled out of the trousers. She looked down at me and smiled happily. Then with a shrug of her shoulders the pleated linen robe slid down into a pool at her feet and she was suddenly naked before me her long black hair falling down across her shoulders and in glossy waves over her small, neat breasts. I put my hands on her slender waist and lifted her up onto the bed, sitting down beside her.

She gave a little sigh, climbing up onto my lap again and running her hands across my chest, seemingly fascinated by the fuzz of soft dark hair. Before I knew it she had swung her leg over my hips and pushed me back across the bed, kneeling astride me and rubbing herself against my stiffness. "My, you are keen aren't you!" I whispered. I slipped my arm around her waist and rolled over pulling her slight body beneath mine. She reached up and pushed her hand into my hair, pulling my head closer to hers.

"You don't like me on top of you do you William?" she said. "Why is that I wonder? Does someone else do that? Someone stronger than you? Someone you dislike?"

I stared down at her, surprised. "Yes actually, you're right." I sighed. "It's foolish of me I know, you are so unlike her." I ran my hand down her body and she shivered. I began to trail tiny kisses down her body as she wriggled underneath me, drawing up her legs and wrapping them around my hips with a little grunt of satisfaction.

"Oh no you don't!" I murmured holding her by the waist and using my tongue to tease her taut, rose coloured nipples until she was moaning and wriggling desperately against me. After another kiss I relented and, lifting her hips towards me, I eased myself gently inside her. She gasped as I pushed myself deeper feeling her tight sheath stretching to accommodate my length. I moved slowly and carefully at first, afraid that I would hurt her, but soon I realised that I was being overly careful. Despite her appearance, she was thousands of years older than me, I probably could not have hurt her even if I had tried! Sooner than I expected I felt her flesh begin to contract around me and she cried out, thrusting her hips upwards to engulf each stroke. I placed one hand on her shoulder, pinning her down on the bed and driving into her harder and deeper for just the few final strokes that brought me to my own release.

We lay on our backs, side by side looking up at the ceiling. I watched a tiny gecko run across the ceiling and down the wall and saw Berenice's eyes following it. She turned her head and her eyes locked on me. "Thank you William!" she whispered. "That was very...satisfying."

I laughed weakly. "I was a pleasure I assure you!" I said.

She rolled onto her side and leaned over to kiss me gently. Placing her hand on my chest and trailed it down across my stomach heading downwards. "Do you think we might do it again?" she asked softly.

I stretched out, feeling her fingers brush lightly against me. "Do you know...I think we might!" I said.

Much later that night we lay on the old iron bed, our limbs tangled together and I felt Berenice sigh happily in my arms. "I know that my people love me" she said "but I still miss the ...the intimacy of being with a man, with a lover. You are such a sweet and gentle lover William. Even though you know I am much stronger than you, still you are so careful with me. As though you are afraid that I will break!"

Suddenly my mind flashed back across the years to a room in New Orleans, to a young boy, a boy who had just become a man. I smiled at the memory. "I had a very good teacher" I said. I settled her comfortably beside me. "Now then, you never quite answered my question, did you? Though you did an excellent job of distracting me I must say!"

"Question?" she asked, looking up at me innocently. "What question?"

I kissed the tip of her nose and said "the question of what exactly it is that you are guarding." She blinked at me. "You asked me a lot of questions about my beliefs but you never quite answered me did you?"

She lay still for a moment in my arms, considering. I wondered what this secret could be, astonished at how important it was to her if I was good enough to have possession of her body, but not her secret. Then, quite suddenly, she came to a decision.

"I am the Guardian of the Shrine of the Blood" she said simply. "The blood of the Goddess."

I didn't know quite what I had imagined but it wasn't this! I lay staring at her in amazement. "The actual blood?" I asked. "The blood that was collected..."

"Yes"

"It still exists?"

"If you wish, I will show it to you" she offered. "I believe that the Goddess has a purpose for you William."

"And what purpose might that be?" I asked.

She smiled. "I do not know! She will make her purpose clear to us, in time."

* * *

A few nights later I was on my way back home just before dawn when I saw a dark shape on the verandah of my house. I slipped back into the shadows and watched carefully for a moment. After a while the shape moved and I recognised the young vampire whose head I had threatened to rip off during our earlier encounter. I watched him suspiciously, wondering if he were lying in wait for me, intending to do me some harm, but he did not appear to be attempting to hide at all. He was merely waiting.

I crept carefully up to the verandah, checking that there was no-one else, hiding in a dark corner. When I was satisfied that he was alone I mounted the steps and greeted him pleasantly. "Good evening! What can I do for you?"

He bowed to me politely and said "Mr Compton, I have a message from the Guardian."

I stood quite still watching him until he continued. "She will meet you after dusk tomorrow night at the foot of the path which leads out of the Valley of the Kings to Deir el Bahri and the temple of the Great Pharaoh, Queen Hatshepsut. Do you know this path?

"Yes, I know it" I said. "You may tell her that I will meet her there."

He bobbed his head in another little bow and slipped off the verandah into the darkness. I sat on the verandah for a while, wondering if I was being dangerously foolish, putting myself at risk by meeting an unknown vampire, one so ancient and powerful, alone. I was fairly sure that she meant me no harm, but still it was with some trepidation that I passed through the entrance to the Valley the next evening. I walked past the guard post with a nod to the Arab guard on duty. By now they all knew me and he simply lifted his hand in a vague salute as I slipped across the valley floor and into the shadows at the base of the limestone cliffs. A few minutes walk took me to the start of the cliff path which wound up over the escarpment and down into the desert on the other side and, sure enough, as I neared the base of the path I saw a small figure standing, quite immobile, in the shadows. She appeared to be alone. Had I not been expecting her, she would have passed quite unnoticed, which was doubtless her intention.

"William! I was beginning to think that you would not come" she said with a smile.

"How could I resist?" I asked, returning her smile. "So, why did you wish to see me?"

"I have spent some time in meditation" she said "and have learned that the Goddess approves of my offer to show you the Shrine of the Blood. We will go now if you wish."

"Why...of course. I should be honoured" I said. Though she had mentioned this a few nights ago when she had come to my house I had not really thought that she had meant it seriously. I was a newcomer, an outsider. She reached out an took my hand.

"Come then" she said, and we began to climb the steep path. A short walk over the escarpment brought us out on the cliff top looking down to Deir-el-Bahri and the magnificent Temple of Hatshepsut. It was built tucked up under the base of the cliff and, in those days, one side of the three storied, pillared structure was buried under the drifting sand. We however, headed in the other direction along the cliff top, out towards the desert. At one point Berenice left the path and started down into a narrow hidden valley.

I followed, looking around me. "Has no one ever stumbled upon your shrine by accident?" I asked. "There must be dozens of expeditions every year now, digging in this area?"

"Oh yes!" she answered, carelessly. "The shrine is well hidden but still occasionally humans will stumble across it. Usually Arabs from the villages, searching for items that they can sell to the westerners. They always come back under cover of darkness and then they are food, provided by the goddess."

"What happens to them?" I asked.

She turned back to me and smiled. "The desert is wide William. It hides many secrets."

My disapproval must have shown on my face as she stopped and turned to face me. "You disagree William? How do you dispose of your victims? What did you do with the girl my men gave you the other night?"

I was silent, watching her face as she saw the truth in my eyes.

"You let her go, didn't you!" she said, her own black eyes wide with surprise. "Why would you do that?"

I sighed. "She was just a child and besides, I knew her, she worked on the dig, her father is the foreman." My voice trailed off as I realised that I was making excuses for my behaviour. "She didn't deserve to die!" I said firmly.

"What does that matter?" she asked, sounding genuinely puzzled. "They are just food William, nothing more. Lilith tells us that they were placed on earth merely to slake our thirst."

"They are individuals, people, each with their own lives, their own concerns, their fears. We were all like them once" I said.

She smiled patiently. "You are very young William, you will see the truth of this in time." She turned away from me and began walking again. I stared after her. Perhaps I was foolish to believe that I could live like this. I knew that older vampires generally had very little regard for humans...and she was, after all, very old. I sighed and followed her across the little valley to the cliffs on the far side.

She was heading for a particular spot on the valley floor, beneath a sheer cliff. When she reached it she paused and turned to me. "The entrance to the shrine is here" she said looking up. "About halfway up the cliff."

I stared up into the darkness but I could see no break in the smooth cliff.

"How do you get up there?" I asked.

"Like this!" she said with a smile. As I watched in astonishment she began to rise into the air. She laughed at the expression on my face and held out her hand to me. "Come, William! Take my hand. You will have to climb as our younger ones do. I will help you."

I took her hand and she rose slowly pulling me upwards. I grasped the rock with my other hand and began to scramble up the sheer face. When we reached the halfway point I saw that there was a narrow ledge running across the cliff. I clambered onto it clinging precariously to the rock. "Now what?" I asked.

"The shrine is here." she said. "Look to your right."

I turned my head and saw a narrow fold in the rock. Stepping carefully around the edge I eased my body into the narrow gap, Berenice close behind me. The narrow passage turned back on itself and as I eased myself around the corner I saw light ahead. The sharp bend in the passage ensured that, not only could the light not be seen from the outside, but the fold in the rock was almost invisible from the ground.

"You say that humans have found this place!" I said in amazement. "By accident!"

"The locals search the cliffs for tombs to rob. It has been going on for thousands of years. Come William" she reached for my hand, "let me show you."

She took my hand again and we stepped out of the narrow passage and into a broad corridor. There were small lanterns placed at intervals along the walls but I barely noticed them as we turned the corner into the corridor. The walls were covered with paintings but, unlike those I had seen in the tombs, these glowed with brilliant colours. The ceiling was curved and painted the deep blue of the night sky, with a scattering of stars in constellations that I did not recognise. I turned to examine the wall paintings and was startled to realise that, although superficially they resembled the painting found in Egyptian tombs, these were not paintings of humans. The flesh of the figures I had seen in the tombs was a warm earthen colour but these were stark white. These creatures had not spent their lives working in the Egyptian sun. They were vampires!

The colours glowed in the flickering light of the lanterns. I could easily have spent hours examining them but Berenice was walking down the corridor ahead of me and I hurried to catch up. At the end of the corridor was an arched doorway with two elaborately carved wooden doors. On either side of the door stood a statue. They were carved from a pale creamy wood and each had a linen skirt wrapped around its hips. They stood with one foot forward and each had a long wooden staff in his outstretched hand. Berenice pushed open the wide doors and stepped through.

I closed my eyes briefly, blinded by the gleam of gold reflecting the lanterns which were placed all around the room. I had only a moment to ponder the incongruity of a shrine to a dark Goddess being full of blinding light. The room beyond was wider than the corridor and contained what looked like a wooden tent made from panels coated with beaten gold topped with a pointed roof. Berenice turned to me, her face solemn.

"Are you ready to face the Goddess William?" she asked.

I was unsure quite what she meant by this but I hadn't come this far to turn back now!

"I am ready! I answered.

She stepped forward and opened the golden doors to the shrine. For an instant I could not move, or speak. Inside the shrine was a carved stone throne on which sat a woman. For a moment I truly believed that I was in the presence of the Goddess Lilith herself. Then, feeling slightly foolish, I realised that it was merely a statue, but the most incredible statue I had ever seen. It was in the form of a life size, seated woman, made of a deep earth coloured stone which gave her flesh the colour of blood. On her head was a wig of black hair, plaited into intricate patterns and her eyes were fashioned of ivory and blue lapis lazuli. Her hands rested on her knees and between her hands she held a stone jar. The stopper was a piece of alabaster carved into the head of a jackal.

I made an enormous effort and tore my eyes away from the statue, turning to Berenice. "The jar?" I asked.

"It contains the blood of the Goddess" she said. "It was used to collect her remains when she was destroyed by the sons of Adam. It was brought here thousands of years ago by my maker Mekure. He brought the blood here and created the shrine. He was the Keeper before me."

"And your task is to guard her?" I asked. "Forever? Do you have no existence of your own?"

"I exist only to serve her" she said. "But...I have my own...diversions." She ran her hand down my chest, making me shiver. "But it is written that one night my vigil will end when Lilith is resurrected. When that night comes we will take our true place and rule this earth as we were meant to do."

"She will be resurrected? Come, Berenice – you cannot believe that surely?" I laughed.

She reached up and placed a cool hand on my cheek. "Were you not a good Christian William?" she said softly, "Did you not believe that Christ died and was reborn on the third day?"

I sighed. "Yes, I believed. But I have learned much since then. You must be aware that many cultures have this same legend of a resurrected god. Attis, Adonis... Mithras, the soldier's god of the Romans. He was said to have been born at mid-winter, died and was buried in a cave from which he rose on the third day. Your own legends of the ancient gods of Egypt. Osiris, who was murdered by his brother Set, his body cut into pieces and scattered throughout the land. The legends say that the pieces were collected by his grieving widow, his sister Isis, who brought him back to life long enough for him to impregnate her with their son Horus. It's a circle, life, death, life. Humans have always been obsessed with a need to know what happens after death."

"But we are not human William! Death is no mystery to us." She turned and walked towards the statue. "Perhaps I believe because I am a woman and Lilith is a goddess."

"A goddess," I said "Persephone was a goddess to the Greeks, the daughter of Demeter the corn goddess. When she was stolen away by Hades her mother laid waste to the earth, refused to allow crops to grow. Only when Hades agreed to return her for half of the year did she relent. This was their explanation for the seasons. In the summer when the crops grow Persephone is with her mother Demeter and in winter, the earth is barren because Demeter is in mourning for her daughter who is in the underworld with Hades." I placed my hand gently on her arm. "Don't you see Berenice, it's the same cycle of life and death over and over again."

She smiled patiently at me. "You have no faith William! But one day you will see the truth." She turned and bent to open a door in the back wall of the shrine, taking out a wooden box about a foot long carved all over with hieroglyphics.

"Take this" she said handing it to me. "It is one of the original copies of the testament. One of the very first to be written down. It is my hope that it will bring you to the goddess."

I reached out and took the box from her hands. "You do understand that I cannot read this?" I asked with a smile.

"Lilith will bring you the knowledge and understanding you need William." She said turning back to the shrine. She hesitated for a moment and then turned back to me. "Just make sure that your friend Theodore doesn't get his hands on it!"

I remained in Luxor for nearly six months. Carter left to oversee another project at Aswan and Theodore's team uncovered the first almost intact tomb ever found in the Valley. That of Yuya and Tuya, the parents of Queen Tiye the wife of Amenhotep III and mother of the heretic Akenaten. I spent part of each night at the dig sites and when I returned home Berenice would be waiting for me. All too soon it was time for me to return to New Orleans and Lorena. I could feel the pull of her, calling to me even over such a great distance. I resisted it for as long as I could but I knew tht I would have to give in eventually and return.

I asked Berenice to return to America with me but I knew that there was little chance that she would agree. On my last night in Luxor we returned to the shrine and I knelt before the Goddess for a while, wondering if it would ever be possible for me to enjoy Berenice's unquestioning faith.

I have thought of her often, but I have never spoken a word of this to anyone before.

* * *

I sat back in the leather office chair and looked up at Charles and Ulrich who were watching me in silence. Ulrich got up and began to pace again. A bad sign in my opinion.

"Well?" I asked. "You say that she has come to England?"

"Yes, our sources are certain of it. She has taken up residence in a house just outside London owned by a certain vampire who we have suspected of harbouring religious zealots for years." He turned back to me. "What is she doing here Bill? Why has she come here?"

"I have no idea!" I said "something must have happened, but it must be something serious to make her leave the shrine."

"We have to know what's going on in there Bill. Our human contacts are beginning to be concerned. There have been a number of unexplained disappearances. The Police suspect that humans are being taken by vampires but, so far at least, they have no proof."

Ulrich stopped his pacing and leaned back against Charles's desk.

"I need you to help us here Bill. It looks like you might be the only one who can! I want you to go in there, join the movement, whatever it takes to find out what they're up to."

I stared at Ulrich, stunned. "But they'll recognise me surely!" I said "They'll never believe I've embraced the Sanguinistas' beliefs! I've even been on TV for heaven's sake, backing the mainstreaming agenda."

"Exactly!" said Ulrich. "That's just what they're looking for don't you see? They want to corrupt vampires away from our policies. If they can convert you to the Sanguinista line then they will have made great strides forward, they'll want to use you as a figurehead, an example of Lilith's power!"

"But..." I faltered.

"You're the perfect choice Bill." he insisted. "Think about this. Firstly, you're about the most committed mainstreamer we have. Secondly, you already know Berenice from the past so you have a reason to join them. Thirdly, you're an experienced undercover agent. We have no-one better suited to this than you!"

I gaped at him. "Just when exactly did I sign up to be an agent of The Authority?" I asked angrily. "I don't need this! I just want to go home to Alex."

Ulrich sighed. "Listen Bill" he said "this extremist nonsense, it's spreading, fast. Already The Authority is having to try and cover up disappearances and it's only going to get worse. Yesterday I had a meeting with an officer from the Ministry of Defence. They are seriously worried about this group. If we can't get them under control then the humans will do it for us and that could start a war. It could destroy everything we have worked for." He put his hands on the arms of my chair, leaning forwrd to look directly into my eyes. "What you've just told us is the most information...the best intelligence I've had for months! Please Bill, we need someone who can get in without arousing suspicion."

I sat back with a sigh. "Alright...I'll go and see if she will see me. But if she turns me away, that's it okay? I have no intention of trying to break in and sneak around looking for information for you, understood!"

"Thank you" said Ulrich, standing up again. "You won't regret this!"

Somehow I wasn't so sure of that.


	5. Chapter 5

Bill had been unusually quiet when he got back from his meeting sometime towards dawn. I had asked him if something had happened but he had just kissed me absently and said we would talk about it later as he climbed into bed beside me. He lay on his back gazing up at the ceiling for a moment, then said. "You remember that conversation we had...about the possibility of you...becoming vampire?

I rolled over to look at him, surprised. "You didn't seem too keen on the idea if I recall" I said.

He sighed and turned his head to me. "Perhaps I was wrong. I...sometimes I worry about what would happen to you if...if I couldn't be here for some reason."

I thought about this for a moment. "You think I might need protection?" I asked. "Who from?"

"Well" he said, carefully. "I've been associated with The Authority quite a bit recently, they have...enemies."

"Suppose, just for a moment, that we did." I said. "You told me that vampire relationships didn't last very long, that they relied on one vampire having power over the other. Do you think that might happen to us?"

Bill laughed and turned on his side to face me."Why would you think that?" he asked "Where do you think the power would be in this relationship?"

"Well, with you obviously!" I said "You would be my Maker, you could command me right? Besides, you're much older and stronger than me."

Bill smiled gently "Yes, I am much older and stronger, but that's not the only consideration." He leaned over and gazed down at me. "Do you remember the first night we met, when we went to that bar and I explained to you about your blood? You ran away!" I opened my mouth to object but he put a long finger across my lips. "No, don't try to deny it...you did. And I don't blame you, it was the sensible thing to do! After all, I'd just told you that I needed to drink your blood!" he paused and trailed his finger down my cheek. "It was probably a foolish thing to do, but I had to do it. I couldn't lie to you."

"Yes, you could have done" I said solemnly "in fact, most vampires would have. What you couldn't have done was lie to me and still be yourself."

Bill's eyes were practically glowing in the darkened room as he gazed at me. "Yes, you're right of course" he said softly. "If I had taken what I needed from you, killed you, I would have been healed. I would have looked exactly as I do now but something would have been broken, irretrievably damaged. I would be dead inside." He leaned forward and kissed me gently. "So I waited. I went back to the bar every night. For four nights I sat in that corner hoping, praying that you would return. And on the fourth night, when the door opened and you came in...from that moment you've had power over me Alex. I began to fall in love with you the moment you set foot in that bar again. I tried not to! After what had happened with Sookie the last thing I wanted was to fall in love again. But I couldn't help myself. I fell in love with your courage, your generosity of spirit." He paused and gave me a little smile. "You might think that I could command you because I would be your maker. That the magic would give me power over you. But you've always been able to command me Alex, from that moment on. You don't need any magic to do it. Everything that's happened between us since has only served to strengthen your power over me."

I gazed up at him, at this astonishing creature. He was such a contradiction. Immensely strong and yet gentle. Incredibly beautiful and yet modest, even shy. Private and yet willing to stand up for what he thought was right. I had no idea at the time just how far this determination to do the right thing would take him.

* * *

It was just after dusk the next evening when I got back to the Mill House. It had taken me longer than I had anticipated to walk back from the village. Getting away from Mrs Archer, the local gossip, in the village store had taken far longer than I had hoped as well! I could see that she was just itching to ask me about my relationship with Bill, but she didn't quite dare...

I walked in through the kitchen expecting to find Bill in the lounge, but there was no sign of him. I was just about to call out when I heard a heavy bump from upstairs. Curious, I climbed the main staircase to the first floor. I stood at the head of the stairs listening but everything was quiet again. Then I noticed that the door at the far end of the hallway was open, the door leading up to the third floor. I stuck my head around the door. "Bill?" I called. "Are you up there?"

There was another muffled thump and Bill's voice called back "I'm just looking for something!"

I knew that when we had decided to use the Mill House ourselves, rather than let it to tenants, Bill had moved a lot of boxes and trunks from storage somewhere into the upstairs rooms. I had thought, when I cleared out my house for sale, that I had collected a lot of junk but believe me, it was nothing compared to what Bill had accumulated over the years! I climbed the narrow stairs, wondering what he could be looking for and whether it had anything to do with our rather unsettling conversation of the previous night.

When I stepped out through the upper door I saw that the first door on the right was open and looked in. Bill was sitting on a steamer trunk illuminated by a faint ray of moonlight which had somehow managed to force its way in past the cobwebs on the tiny window. On his knees was a package wrapped in dusty white linen.

"Hi!" I said. "Everything okay?"

He looked up slowly and smiled. "Yes, yes. I was just..." He stood up suddenly holding the package. "Lets go back downstairs, we need to talk."

I knew it! Something was definitely not right here. We walked downstairs and sat down on one of the couches in the lounge and as we did so the linen cloth slipped and I saw a long wooden box in his hands covered with elaborate carving. To my astonishment the carving was in four neat rows of Egyptian Hieroglyphics. But the box looked almost new! It certainly wasn't old enough to be an original Egyptian artifact. I looked up to see Bill watching me with a smile.

"Where on earth did this come from?" I asked indignantly. "You know how much I love Egypt! Why did you never tell me about it?"

"Alex, sweetheart, you know there are things that I can't, or shouldn't tell you." He said. "Well this is one of them. This is something that humans simply don't know about and never have."

All of a sudden I felt a chill. "But you're going to tell me anyway?" I asked. "Why?"

He leaned forward and looked directly into my eyes. "Because you need to understand what I am doing and why, and I trust you. You must never reveal this to a living soul, do you understand?"

"Okay..." I said doubtfully. "I promise."

"The box itself is not particularly old. It was given to me in 1903 and it was about two hundred years old then. It's the..."

"Wait a minute!" I said, puzzled. "That would make it about 1700. There was no-one around at that time who could even read hieroglyphics, never mind write them!"

Bill raised an eyebrow at me and waited.

"Oh!" I said, suddenly understanding. "It was made by a vampire? An Egyptian vampire?" I asked.

"Yes" he said. "But as I said, it's not the box that's important."

He pressed a spot on the edge of the box. There was a slight click and he gently slid the lid off. Inside was a scroll wound around two wooden end pieces and bound in leather. As he lifted it carefully from the box I could see the characteristic woven pattern of papyrus. He unrolled the beginning of the scroll and my mouth dropped open in surprise. "That's hieratic script isn't it?" I asked "It's like a shorthand version of hieroglyphics, used by the priests of ancient Egypt."

"That's right" said Bill. "This document is thousands of years older than the box. It is our bible. One of the earliest copies known."

I stared down at the scroll in wonder. "A Vampire Bible? What does it say? And how is it that you have such a rare copy?"

"What it says is not important for now, not to you anyway. As to how I came to have it. That's a long story, one I told to Charles and Ulrich last night and I now need to tell you...

I lay on my back on the couch with my head in Bill's lap, It was four in the morning and the fire had died down to a flicker some time ago.

"So" I asked carefully. "Ulrich thinks you're the right man for the job because you knew this woman a hundred years ago and she fancied you?"

Bill winced slightly. "I hadn't realised that I was so privileged but it appears that very few people have ever seen her, before or since. Until now that is!"

"And she's come to London to cause trouble for The Authority?"

"No!" Bill looked down at me with a pained expression. "No, I don't believe she means to cause trouble. At least, not intentionally. But...she's very..."

I sat up and looked across at him. "She's very...what?"

"Devout!" he said. "She truly believes that the goddess speaks to her. That would be the only reason she would leave the shrine. After all she has lived there for over two thousand years. She's very single minded, if she thinks she should follow a certain path then the thought of causing trouble for others simply wouldn't cross her mind. She is quite naive in many ways, she believes that any course of action which is sanctioned by her Goddess must be right. She would not even consider the consequences."

"But there will be consequences?" I asked.

Bill sighed. "There already are. The movement Ulrich spoke about, the Sanguinistas, they believe that the vampire race is the older and the stronger and should rule over humans. That humans are merely "livestock" put on this earth as food for us."

"But that's ridiculous..." I spluttered angrily.

"I know!" said Bill, holding up his hand. "I didn't say I believed it did I? But they do, and this belief is being enhanced by the presence of Berenice and her relics."

"The blood?" I asked.

"Yes...the blood." Bill sat back and looked at me seriously. "I don't want to do this Alex! I don't want to leave you but...Ulrich's right. I might be the only person they have who can do it."

"Are these people really that dangerous?" I asked. "Surely they're just a bunch of religious zealots, right?"

"Alex, religious zealotry can be the most dangerous force of all" replied Bill. "I've seen it before. It's extremely dangerous because it's extremely attractive. Religious fundamentalism takes away the necessity to make moral decisions for yourself. Instead of asking "Is this the right thing to do?" you can simply say "The bible tells me to do this!" Thus you are absolved from any responsibility for the consequences of your actions. Men have done terrible things in the name of religion." He looked down at the box in his hands. "If these Sanguinistas are able to spread their beliefs then there will be no chance that humans and vampires will be able to live beside each other in peace. They believe that humans are simply food...nothing more."

"This woman, your friend, does she believe that?" I asked.

"Yes, absolutely!" said Bill.

My surprise and disgust must have shown on my face because Bill looked, for a moment, as though I had slapped him. "Alex, you have to try to understand how old she is! What she's been through. I didn't agree with her views, obviously I didn't, but I couldn't change them!" He gazed at me, his expression pleading with me to believe him. "She just laughed off my high minded principles as though I were a child, who would know better when he grew up! And I suppose, to her, I was."

I sighed and leaned against him. "I know that honey, I know..." I laid my head on his shoulder. "You're determined to do this aren't you?" I asked.

"Something has to be done" he said. "And I should be able to get in to see her...unless I'm fooling myself. Perhaps she won't even remember me!" He gave me a little smile. "Well, if they kick me out, at least I'll have tried!"


	6. Chapter 6

I drove up the long gravel driveway to the house feeling guilty that I was going to have to lie to Berenice. I had decided that I was not cut out for this James Bond stuff, even if I did have the Aston Martin!

Ulrich had e-mailed me the address, together with all the information he had which was actually very little. The house, which turned out to be a sizeable country property, apparently belonged to a vampire named Darius who The Authority had long suspected of being opposed to their policies. He spent a lot of his time in the middle east which, I supposed, might explain how Berenice knew him.

I pulled up under the stone archway before the front door and got out of the car. Straightening my shoulders with an effort I knocked sharply on the heavy, if ornate, steel security door which had evidently replaced the original when Darius took up residence. After a moment or two the door was opened by a small blonde vampire who examined me for a moment and then said "Can I help you?"

I gave him my best infatuated smile. "I hope so! I heard that Berenice is living here? I should like to see her please."

He gave me another suspicious glance. "You want to see the Guardian?" he said in a slightly patronising tone of voice. "Sorry, she doesn't see casual visitors." He tried to close the door but I was too fast for him and it bumped against my boot.

"I think you'll find that she'll see me!" I said firmly.

He narrowed his eyes and stared at me. "Don't I know you from somewhere?" he asked. I watched as his memory supplied the information. "Hey! You're that guy I've seen on TV with members of The Authority! Compton, right? What on earth makes you think she'll want to see you?"

"Well, why don't you ask her and find out?" I said politely.

He had just opened his mouth, doubtless to tell me to get lost, when a shadow appeared in the hallway behind him. "Is there some problem Hayden?" said a rich deep voice from behind him.

Hayden turned from the door and said "A gentleman has called to see the Guardian, a Mr Compton."

There was silence for a moment and then a face appeared in the doorway. If he had been human I would have said that he was white with shock, but since he was a vampire it was possible that this was his normal complexion. However, he certainly seemed surprised.

"Mr Compton?" he asked warily. "William Compton?"

"That's right" I answered guilelessly. "You've heard of me? Your doorman here said that he'd seen me on TV." I just caught Hayden's glare out of the corner of my eye. "I should very much like to see Berenice, if that's possible."

For some reason the newcomer appeared completely flustered by my appearance for a moment. "Ah, yes of course, please come in! My name is Darius Ashman, this is my house."

I gave him a polite little bow as I stepped over the threshold. "That's very kind of you."

He ushered me into a luxuriously appointed drawing room and waved me to a sofa. "Please sit down, make yourself comfortable. I'll just go and see if the Guardian is free." He turned and bumped into Hayden who had followed him in. He shoved the little blonde vampire unceremoniously out of the room and closed the door behind him, leaving me on a sofa at the far end of the room. As soon as the door closed I jumped up and pressed my ear to the door.

"...hardly believe it!" Darius was saying.

"You mean that's him? That's actually him?" said Hayden excitedly. "Praise Lilith! Then she was right all along! You have to trust her instincts now..." the voices faded along the corridor and I sat down again thoughtfully.

Were they suggesting that Berenice somehow knew that I was coming? I went cold at the thought that she might have her own spy in The Authority. But that did not seem like her somehow. She got her information direct from the Goddess!

I sat pondering the snatch of conversation until I heard footsteps coming down the hallway. I stood up as the door opened and Berenice came in. For a moment I felt that I had stepped back in time by a century. She was exactly as I remembered her. The slight figure, the long dark hair, the black eyes slightly darkened with kohl, even the long pleated white linen robe. She came towards me smiling and reached out to take my hands.

"William!" she sighed. "It's been such a long time."

I leaned forward and gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek. "It certainly has! It's been over a hundred years since we parted in Luxor. When I heard that you had come to England I could hardly believe it. I never thought that you would leave the shrine."

She walked over to the sofa drawing me with her by the hand and we sat down. "I came here because of you William." She said quietly.

"But I left to go back to America" I said. "How did you know I'd come to England?" Somehow I was pretty sure she hadn't seen my appearance on "Late Night Talk".

"I received a vision from the Goddess" she explained. "I saw this house. I saw the two of us each with a goblet filled with blood. But I'm still not completely sure what it means..."

"Oh Berenice! You dreamed of me! That's so sweet" I laughed gently.

She looked up at me and said earnestly. "This was no dream William! It was a true vision!" I must have looked a little doubtful at this pronouncement because she took my hands again. "You're here are you not?" she asked. "With me!"

She had a point there! And I was supposed to be joining the movement after all. I squeezed her hands. "So Lilith has answered my prayers and brought us together again." I whispered.

She stood up with a smile of relief and placed her hand softly on my cheek. "Did I not tell you when we first met that the Goddess had a purpose for you William, and that she would make her purpose clear in time?"

I stood up putting my hands on her slim waist and kissing her gently. "Indeed you did!"

"Come with me" she said "I had already asked Darius to prepare a room in anticipation of your arrival." Well, that explained the conversation I had overheard between Hayden and Darius, I thought. "Unless you would like to join me in my room" she asked with a coy little smile.

I looked down at her with as serious an expression as I could manage. "Oh, sweetheart, I wouldn't like to cause any trouble between you and your followers. I have only just arrived, after all!"

She sighed. "Yes, perhaps you're right. Darius is quite possessive of my attention. We shouldn't do anything to upset the others. Not when we are so close to fulfilling my goal. I feel sure that my long vigil will come to an end soon, perhaps then we can finally be together again."

I gave a little sigh of relief as I followed Berenice up the broad staircase and along a corridor to a carved wooden door at the end. That was one less sin I would have to confess to Alex when this was all over! She opened the door and led me into a large bedroom with what looked like a door to an en-suite bathroom. The centrepiece was an enormous four poster bed with a deep red canopy over the top and gauze curtains tied back at the sides. I was somewhat alarmed to notice a bolt in the wall at the head of the bed, from which hung a pair of handcuffs! Berenice must have noticed my expression as she smiled a grim little smile and explained "I understand that Darius used to use this room for his...entertainments."

That said a lot about Darius, I thought. Rather more than I wanted to know in fact!

"Mind you" she said, turning to leave "they come in handy for the food. You must be hungry darling. I'll have someone sent up for you." She smiled and closed the door.

Oh no! I sat down on the bed and closed my eyes. Well, at least I was inside... I tried the other door and found that it did, as I had thought, lead to a bathroom. I took off my jacket and tossed it onto the bed. I was in the bathroom splashing my face with water when I heard a commotion in the adjoining room. Putting my head round the door I saw a vampire dressed in dark combat clothing holding a naked girl by the arm. He tossed her to the ground and turned to me.

"Your meal Mr Compton" he said and turned to leave closing the door firmly behind him. I stood frozen in the doorway while the girl scrambled into the farthest corner of the room and crouched against the wall staring at me, horrified. After a moment I walked slowly over to her watching her try to push herself back into the wall.

"Please...please don't kill me!" she whimpered.

I squatted down in front of her and held out my hand. "I won't kill you, I promise."

She was slim with curly red hair and would have been pretty if her face had not been swollen and stained with tears. I could practically see her heart pounding beneath her pale flesh and I felt my fangs begin to slide out. I closed my lips firmly over them and picked her up in my arms. She lay passively, too terrified to move as I walked over to the bed and put her down beside me.

"Oh you poor child!" I murmured softly "how on earth did you end up in here?" She gazed up at me with huge green eyes. "I'm so sorry...I cannot save you child, but I'll not have your death on my conscience. What they are doing here is wrong and I'm here to try and stop it, but I need to keep up my strength and make them believe that I'm part of this, so I need to feed on you." I stroked her face gently with my fingers and looked down into her eyes using just a little of my glamour to calm her and dull the pain as I bit down into her throat.

Just as I withdrew my fangs the door opened and Berenice returned. She smiled to see the girl in my arms and said calmly "When you've finished you might like to come down to the drawing room. We are about to hold a small communion ceremony to the Goddess. I thought that you might like to join us?"

I licked the girl's blood from my lips, embarrassed, and put her limp body down on the bed. "Certainly. I'd love to join you!" I said. "I'll be interested to meet the rest of your followers."

"Excellent" said Berenice, glancing at the girl. "I'll see you in a moment then...she's still alive by the way!"

"That's fine" I murmured. "I've had enough."

She looked down at me patiently. "Oh William! You've not changed have you? Still so sentimental about them!" She clapped her hands and the guard came in. "Take this one back to the cells" she ordered sharply. I watched helplessly as he picked her up by the arm and dragged her out. "Come, William! I want to introduce you to the rest of my companions here." She held out her hand to me. I took her hand and rose from the edge of the bed. She tucked her arm into mine with a somewhat possessive air as we walked back down the staircase and into the drawing room.

As we stepped through the door a dozen pair of eyes turned and fixed on us. I could practically feel the animosity in the stares. Evidently the word had already been passed around regarding my arrival and it appeared that I was not universally popular. It seemed that I had been correct in my assumption that her followers were jealous of the Guardian's affections and I was relieved that I had turned down her invitation to move into her room. I really had no wish to draw attention to myself but apparently Berenice had no such qualms.

"This is William Compton" she announced. "Most of you know that I have been waiting for a sign that the time of resurrection is upon us. William's arrival is the sign that I have been waiting for. All is now prepared, in accordance with the prophecy, for the coming of Lilith. The ceremony will take place tonight, Darius, as we discussed.

Darius looked decidedly unhappy at this. "I still don't see why he should be involved at all!" he growled, glaring at me. "You are the Guardian, the Keeper, the Prophet. The Goddess will be reborn in you. Why do we need him?"

Berenice smiled patiently at him. "You call me the Prophet, Darius and yet you disregard my prophecies. I have told you many times what I have seen. In my vision William was beside me. We will do as I have commanded. You will prepare two goblets, one of the sacred blood and one of the blood of one of the prisoners. I shall choose one, William shall drink the other. I shall be the vessel for the Goddess and William shall be her consort."

What? My mouth dropped open in surprise and I shut it quickly before anyone could notice my shock. The consort of the Goddess? When had I agreed to that? I glanced around and noticed several of Berenice's followers, Darius included, who would quite obviously be happy to take my place, by any means necessary. The sooner I was out of this nest of snakes the better!

Berenice smiled again and reached into a small pouch hanging from her belt and took out a small glass bottle. The disgruntled muttering which had risen after her pronouncement faded away and the vampires fell to their knees before her. I followed suit and knelt in front of her.

"You have been Lilith's most faithful followers" she cried. "You shall each taste the sacred blood one last time before the resurrection!"

She opened the little bottle and knelt down before me. "I can feel that you still do not truly believe William" she whispered. "Take the Goddess into your soul and the blood will take you to where your heart lies." She let a drop of the blood drip onto my tongue and I swallowed it. Almost immediately I felt dizzy and swayed on my knees, then I must have collapsed because the next thing I knew I was flying. It happens sometimes in dreams. You feel yourself floating above the earth, you can direct yourself, fly wherever you wish. I looked down to see that I was floating over the English countryside. I could make out fields and farm buildings and a river. Yes, the river! I felt that that was important somehow and with that thought I started to move, flying swiftly along the river, heading upstream across the lush green panorama. Soon I found myself looking down on a square stone building, a house, set in a curve of the river. There were stone outbuildings to one side and the river widened to a millpond on one side, flowing around a soft green lawn and a little orchard of fruit trees. I recognised this place! It was the Mill House! I was looking at the Mill House!

Just as I realised this the scene changed and I was inside the house, in the great open hallway beside the Inglenook fireplace. Alex sat on the couch reading a book, but when she looked up for a moment she seemed to look right through me. This must be some kind of hallucination. All of a sudden I became aware that there was someone else in the room with us. I turned my head and saw her... Lilith.

She was standing in the hallway beside the kitchen door. It was as if the statue I had seen in the Shrine had come to life. Her naked body was drenched in blood and as she came towards me I saw that she left bloody footprints on the stone flags. She stood before me and raised a hand to my lips, I could taste the blood on her fingers and I heard a voice in my head saying "I have chosen you to lead my people." She reached forward to place her bloody hand on my chest and then suddenly stopped and looked around. I turned my head and saw Alex stand up from the sofa, an oddly puzzled expression on her face. I saw her lips moving as she called something but I was unable to hear her. Lilith, however, appeared startled by her appearance and backed away. Then the whole scene faded and I opened my eyes.

I saw a carved ceiling above me and sat up, shaking my head. The others were sitting around me looking shocked or surprised or blissful depending, I supposed on where the blood had taken them. There were a few soft cries of "Praise Lilith!" I looked up and saw Berenice watching me with a little smile of triumph. She crouched down before me, her expression ecstatic. "You saw her didn't you?" she whispered. "I can see it in your face. The Goddess appeared to you!"

"Yes..." I answered shakily, "she did!"

Berenice's smile widened. "You see now" she said. "If you trust in the blood it will take you to your heart, to the Goddess!" She held out her hand to help me to my feet and I smiled at her a little weakly. She was right at least in one respect. I had seen the Goddess. But what she didn't know was that the blood had taken me straight to Alex.

The rest of Berenice's congregation were getting to their feet, all looking a little shaken by their experience and so I excused myself, saying that I needed to rest before the ceremony. Berenice kissed me gently and walked with me back to my room. "I must go and prepare myself" she said. "I will see you later my love." She walked away down the corridor, serene and confident as always. My feelings were very different. My hands were shaking as I went over to the window and flung open the shutters. Cold air rushed in and I stood leaning on the sill gazing out into the darkness. What had I seen? What was that creature? Had I been drugged? I stared out into the rain and began to think the unthinkable...what if everything these people believed was true?


	7. Chapter 7

I heaved on the jammed door and cursed Ulrich for about the tenth time that afternoon. Bill would have opened this with one hand if he hadn't been sent off on this mysterious mission of his. Come to that so would Azaria if she hadn't abandoned me to go and stay with Dan for a few days. I gave up with a sigh and sat down on a garden chair feeling sorry for myself. I was trying to get into one of the outbuildings at the Mill House where the lawnmower was kept but the wooden door appeared to have swelled up in the recent rains and was stuck fast.

Oh well, the lawn would just have to wait until Bill got back!

I sat back in the chair still feeling the vague uneasiness which had plagued me all day. It had started with a curious and frightening incident the previous evening. I was alone in the house, with all the doors locked, and had been sitting curled up on the couch by the huge Inglenook fireplace reading a book when I had the strangest feeling that there was someone else in the room. I had begun to feel cold and had become convinced that Bill was in danger somehow. I had put down the book and stood up to look around, but there was no-one there. I had even called out to him but there was no answer. I had checked the locks on all the doors and gone off uneasily to bed. Then in the deepest part of the night I had begun to dream. Dreams of blood and darkness. I had been convinced that I was falling into a black pit, falling deeper and deeper and I could hear laughter, a woman laughing... then I had woken up in a cold sweat, not even sure where I was, or why Bill wasn't with me.

Later that evening I was curled up in an armchair in the small drawing room to the rear of the house watching TV when the doorbell rang. I checked carefully through the small window in the porch, aware that I was alone in the house, and to my surprise I saw Ulrich standing on the doorstep.

"Well hello." I said opening the door. "What are you doing here?"

Ulrich had a sombre look to him that night, his long black coat damp from the recent rain. "May I come in?" he asked. "I need to speak to you."

"Of course. Please come in" I said with some formality, mindful of the fact that, since Ulrich had not been here before, he needed an invitation to enter. "Can I offer you a drink?"

"No, thank you" he took my hand and drew me over to the sofa. "Please sit down Alex. I've had some rather...disturbing news."

"You've heard from Bill?" I asked.

"No, not from Bill." Ulrich sat on the sofa with his head down. "We were contacted by someone else who was at the house. She was a follower of Berenice, she was one of those who worshipped Lilith but...something happened last night that frightened her so badly she called us for help."

I sat, absolutely still, remembering the uneasiness I had felt all day, afraid to ask the question, but I needed to know. "Something's happened to Bill?" I breathed. "Ulrich! Tell me!"

"We don't really know. You must understand that Abigail was a Sanguinista. We're not sure whether to believe her... She says that Bill arrived and was welcomed by Berenice. Some of her followers weren't too happy as she was clearly very fond of him." Ulrich glanced up at me, evidently wondering if Bill had told me about Berenice.

"Apparently she had been expecting him, something about a vision, or a prophecy. He was destined to be the consort of the Goddess...something of that kind anyway. She had arranged some ceremony to resurrect the Goddess. Apparently the plan was that both she and Bill would drink from two goblets, one of which contained the sacred blood which she had brought with her from Egypt. Obviously everyone, including Berenice, assumed that Lilith would manifest herself in Berenice, her prophet. But... something went wrong, or..."

Ulrich put his head in his hands. "The Goddess was manifested in Bill." he said. "He was possessed...somehow. Abigail seemed unable to tell us what actually happened but, whatever it was, it terrified her!" She says that...he is gone...completely. He has been taken over by Lilith."

He looked up at me. "I'm so sorry Alex. If we'd had any idea...you know I'd never have asked him to go in..."

"Gone!" I said blankly. "What do you mean, gone? He...he can't be gone. I would know!"

Ulrich stared at me sadly. "I don't understand it myself, but from what Abigail has told us his appearance, this...manifestation, has inspired the Sanguinista movement and it's pulling in more vampires than ever. The Authority now feels that we have to take action against them."

"What kind of action?" I asked. "If there's action that you could have taken, why did you send him in there in the first place?"

"We're under pressure from the human authorities to do something about them." He explained. "I had hoped that Bill could get us enough information to solve this peacefully but...I have to say that I have a Colonel from the Ministry of Defence on my back now. His plan is to set fire to the place and burn out the nest!"

"What!" I was horrified. "You can't let him do that Ulrich. Apart from Bill, you don't know who else might be in there!"

"I know! I know! We're doing our best to put them off but this information hasn't helped."

Ulrich and I sat by the fire talking for another hour or so. After he had left I sat curled on the sofa until the fire had died down. I felt empty and cold.

I lay awake all night in the bed that I had shared with Bill, my head pressed into the pillow that still smelled faintly of his cologne. I knew that, whatever Ulrich had claimed, he was not gone, not completely. I could still feel him through the blood bond. It was faint and weak and somehow...frightened. This was so unlike him that I was not even entirely sure that I was not imagining it. I thought of all that he had meant to me, all that he had risked for my sake and when the first rays of the sun crept across the stone flagged floor of the kitchen and down the stairs I knew that I had to go to London and find him. I did not know if I could help him this time but I knew that, even at the risk of my life, I had to try.

* * *

I crawled out of bed at about mid-day, having managed some fitful sleep after coming to my decision, and headed into the shower. As I showered my brain was working frantically on the problem of how to find Bill. Ulrich had not mentioned where this house was and I had not asked him as I didn't want him to know what I was up to. I was fairly sure that he'd have tried to stop me. And if Ulrich had wanted to stop me, I'd certainly have been stopped!

I pulled on jeans and a T shirt and headed upstairs, rubbing my hair dry with a towel. We had converted one of the rear rooms into a study for Bill and I opened the door and went in. Bill's desk was in the far corner and there, leaning against the chair, was his laptop bag. I picked it up and could tell by the weight that his laptop was inside. Pulling it out I powered it up and sat down waiting impatiently. I knew that Bill had two e-mail accounts, one was personal, which I thought was password protected, but his business account wasn't. Ever hopeful, I tried that one first. There were three e-mails from Ulrich, received in the last couple of days but only the first two had been opened.

The first one was something about a problem he was having with another sheriff. I crossed my fingers for luck as I opened the second one. Bingo! It was the information about the Sanguinista movement and included the address of Darius Ashman's house! I scribbled the address down, closed down the laptop and replaced it in the bag.

Some time later I was sitting at the large oak table in the kitchen eating a bowl of chilli I'd pulled out of the freezer and nuked in the microwave, examining the large scale map book I kept in my car. The house was big and isolated, just what you'd expect really for an underground religious cult, set in its own grounds. There was a small village within walking distance so I decided to start there.

I arrived at the house just before dusk. It had struck me that anyone who really wanted to break into a vampire's hideout would do it during the day, right? That way they might have a slight chance of getting away with it. However, I didn't want to get away with it, I wanted to get caught. I know! I know! It sounds crazy, suicidal even, but I couldn't think of any other way to get inside. I could hardly walk up to the front door and knock! Admittedly, these vampires apparently didn't have a very high opinion of humans but would they actually believe that I would be stupid enough to be wandering around the grounds after dark?

I had parked my car in the nearby village. Whilst buying myself a bar of chocolate in the village store I asked casually who lived in the house only to be told in no uncertain terms to keep away. It seemed that several local people had disappeared in the last week or so and now, no-one would go anywhere near the place. That didn't sound good! I was beginning to feel as if I had a walk on part in a Hammer movie. You know the one...the character who ignores the advice of the villagers and goes up to the gloomy old deserted castle anyway! I walked casually across the fields towards the grounds and over a rickety wooden fence which appeared to be all that separated the grounds from the surrounding area. I saw no sign of any human security and wondered if they trusted to their Goddess to keep them safe during the daytime.

Apparently not! When I got near enough I saw that the house had been fitted with light tight solid steel shutters on all the windows and, on investigation, solid steel security doors, front and back. There would be no sneaking in for a quick look around then! On to Plan B – Get Caught. Just as the sun was going down I slipped back around to the rear of the property and took off my jacket. Rolling it up I put it down on the grass in the corner of the kitchen garden and lay down with my head on it. I'd come out for a walk. Laid down for a rest and dropped off to sleep. Hey, it wasn't perfect but it was the best I had!

I lay curled up in the grass for about five minutes before I heard a footstep come around the corner of the house. I looked up and saw a male vampire standing about twenty feet away. Despite my resolve to allow myself to be caught and taken into the house I jumped to my feet and fled. I knew that there was no chance I could get away and I didn't really want to, but I ran anyway. Believe me, in these circumstances the instinct for self preservation kicks in whether you like it or not!

Before I had run a dozen paces he had caught me. I was jerked back off my feet as he snatched me up by my arm. "Well! What have we here? A cute little trespasser!" He was about six feet tall and, judging by the mass of muscle, must have been a bodybuilder when he was alive. Ideal guard material, I thought. He dragged me to the rear door and banged on it with his free hand.

In a moment the door was opened by a smaller blonde vampire who raised an eyebrow and said in a highly patronising tone "Oh well done Greg! You've finally caught one!" He opened the door wider and Greg hauled me inside. The blonde indicated a door on one side of the corridor. "Shove her in there for now, we've got a couple more as well. We'll take 'em in later." Greg opened the door, pushed me into what appeared to be some kind of storeroom, and shut the door on me. Okay! I was in. What next?

What happened next was...nothing. I sat in the corner of the little room for about an hour until I heard footsteps outside. Then the door opened and another vampire, wearing the same dark clothing as Greg had worn, reached in and pulled me to my feet. I was dragged down a corridor with two other girls, pushed though a large pair of double doors and shoved down on my knees. Looking up carefully I saw two chairs on a raised platform at the other side of the room. On one sat a small dark woman wearing a long white linen robe. She had long black hair and sharp black eyes. I guessed that this was Berenice. Seated on the other chair was... my heart skipped a beat as I glanced up. It was Bill. But...it wasn't. I could only think of his description of the statue of the Goddess he had seen in the shrine in the desert outside Luxor, carved out of some red stone with eyes of ivory and lapis lazuli. He was completely naked and sat quite immobile, every inch of his skin was the colour of blood, as though he had been dipped in it. His hair was slicked back and looked wet. I peered a little closer, it was blood, I could see it clotted in the hair on his chest. My God what had happened to him? Could Ulrich have actually been right? I realised then that I hadn't truly believed what he had told me. Somehow this didn't seem like such a good idea any more.

There was a scream, cut off sharply as the other two girls were thrown down beside me. The woman regarded us coldly for a moment. "Only three? You'll need to do better than this!" Then she turned to Bill and asked "Would you like one my Lord? For a toy?" The creature turned his head slightly and looked down at us. His eyes were cold and bright, the whites standing out starkly against the darkened skin and his expression was completely blank, he looked almost as though he were drugged but when his eye fell on me I thought I saw a faint spark of recognition. I turned away, not wanting to be acknowledged by this thing, but then I suddenly remembered what they wanted us for. It struck me that being given to Bill as a toy might not be so bad compared to what might happen to me if I was simply dragged off as food.

His eyes ran over the group of us and fell again on me, passing over to the next girl without a flicker. After a moment's thought he raised a hand and indicated me with an almost complete lack of interest. I had a chilling flash of memory, of a man I had seen once in a seafood restaurant choosing a lobster from a tank. I felt a stab of cold fear as I realised that I had absolutely no idea why he had selected me. Had he actually recognised me or was it just chance? Was he just faking it to get me out? I felt for him through the bond and I had a sudden powerful impression of vulnerability which was immediately cut off. At this point I panicked and started to struggle. The guard grasped my arm and began to pull me away. I struggled harder and he twisted my arm painfully up behind my back until I gave a sharp cry of pain. I thought I saw a tiny frown crease the thing's forehead as I was dragged out with the others.

The three of us were hustled down a corridor and through another security door. At the end of the corridor was a wooden door which we were hauled through and down a flight of stairs to a basement corridor. At the bottom of the stairs I was horrified to see a row of cells on either side of the corridor. I was even more horrified when we reached the bars and could see inside. There were two cells on either side of the corridor, which was lit by a dingy lightbulb swinging from the ceiling. Inside the cells were people, humans like me, men on one side, women on the other. They were all naked and crouched listlessly on the floor. The guard pushed me up against the bars and ordered "Strip!"

"What?" I said, shocked.

"Take your clothes off!" he explained brusquely.

"Why?" I asked, without thinking.

There was absolutely no warning whatsoever as he slapped me across the face so hard my head snapped back against the bars with a crack. "Don't argue with me girl! Just do it!"

The other two girls hurriedly began taking their clothes off and in a moment or two we all stood shivering and embarrassed on the dirty concrete floor. He opened the door to the less crowded female cell, pushed us in, banging my hip painfully against the bars and strolled casually off upstairs without another word, slamming the door behind him.

One of the other two girls who had been thrown in the cell with me, a plump blonde, sank down in a corner and began to cry quietly to herself. The other girl sat down beside her and put her arm around her, trying to comfort her. She looked up at me. "He was pointing at you wasn't he? That...creature?" she said shakily.

"Yes I think so" I said sitting down beside her, and rubbing my bruised hip. "I...I used to know him..."

She stared at me, looking stunned. "You know him? That monster?"

I sighed sadly. "He wasn't always like that." I said weakly, wondering why I was bothering to justify myself to this girl. What did it matter now after all?

"He's a vampire!" she snapped. "They're all monsters!"

"No, she's right" said a small voice. "He was nice...before..."

I looked around and saw a small slim girl with curly red hair and, now that I looked more closely, fang marks on her neck. She was curled up in the darkest corner of the cell.

"What do you mean?" I asked. "Before what?"

"Before he changed" she said. "They gave me to him one night. Came down here and dragged me off. I thought I was going to die for sure, they keep us here to feed to the vampires..." she paused and hugged her knees closer trying to squeeze as far into the corner of the cell as possible. "They shoved me into his room and locked the door. I was terrified. But..." she looked up at me with wide green eyes "he was nice, he helped me up and carried me over to the bed with him. He explained that he needed blood, that he had to keep his strength up, something about his purpose for being here. He wasn't like the rest of them, really he wasn't! He...he bit me, quite gently and carefully, but he didn't kill me...obviously, and they sent me back down here. I heard that woman teasing him about it, about his not killing me. But then something happened to him, he came down here with her and he...he'd changed. Become that monster that you saw. I was frightened that he would want me again but the woman chose two other girls for him..." her voice trailed off weakly.

"And?" I said eagerly, "what did they say?"

She looked up at me with those wide terrified eyes brimming with tears.

"They didn't come back..." she whispered

I sat back against the bars, shocked beyond belief. Bill would never have...would he? I couldn't imagine the vampire I knew killing two innocent girls just for food. Would he do it to maintain his cover? Of course I knew that he had killed in the past but somehow that didn't seem to affect me. He wasn't like that any more, he'd changed...hadn't he? I thought of the look in those cold blue eyes, of the feeling of helplessness I had received through the bond and I suddenly knew that I had made a terrible mistake. I might not get out of this place alive.


	8. Chapter 8

We sat, crouched on the concrete floor of the cell in silence, punctuated by the occasional sob from the little blonde girl. There seemed to be nothing more to say. After a while there was a bang from the end of the corridor and two of the guards came down the stairs and swaggered up to our cell door.

"Time for dinner sweetheart!" said one, leering in at me.

There was a bunch of keys on his belt and he used one to unlock the cell door. I stood up and backed away but I wasn't quick enough and he grabbed me by the arm. In a panic I took hold of the bars between the cells with my other hand and tried to hang on.

"Let go girl!" he growled "or you'll regret it!"

He gave a yank on my arm, pulling me forward. Unfortunately my other arm was in between the bars and I heard a sickening crack as it broke. I cried out as the pain shot up my arm and my hand fell from the bars and hung limply at my side.

"You've broken my arm!" I gasped through gritted teeth.

"Don't worry sweetheart" he said with a grin that showed his fangs. "You won't be needing it for much longer anyway!" He took hold of me by the good arm and marched me up the corridor. As the other vampire opened the door at the top of the stairs I looked back and saw the other girls' horrified faces peering out through the bars.

They must have taken me upstairs but I was so busy concentrating on the pain in my arm I couldn't really remember. They reached an ornate wooden door at the end of an upstairs corridor and paused for a moment outside. They gave each other an uneasy glance and then carefully opened the door. I saw a luxuriously furnished room containing a large four poster bed, then suddenly I was picked up and carried across the room. One of the guards climbed up with one knee on the bed and took hold of something hanging from the wall. The other tossed me down on the bed, twisting my ankle painfully and held me up by the arm. I felt cold metal snap around my wrist and realised with horror that it was a set of handcuffs. The two guards then let go of me and I collapsed back onto the bed.

I lay, stunned, my unbroken arm handcuffed above my head as the two vampires hurried out of the room, their heads bowed respectfully, and shut the door firmly behind them. Gritting my teeth against the pain I looked around to see the creature they worshipped leaning casually against the wall, still completely naked, his body smeared with blood. He was watching me with his head tipped slightly to one side. The pose was one I had seen Bill take so many times in the past that it seemed comfortingly familiar, but this was not the Bill I knew. His eyes were cold and blank and his gleaming white fangs were so long his lips were forced slightly apart like some ancient sabre toothed cat. He pushed himself upright and padded across the room towards me, the resemblance to a predatory cat becoming more marked as he moved with Bill's usual feline grace.

He paused at the side of the bed and sank down to his knees, gazing at me with an intensity which I found quite disturbing. After hearing the stories from the girl in the cage I was prepared to die, I had resigned myself to it. I had always known that fighting would do me no good but I had been unable keep myself from struggling against my two captors and had paid the price. What I was not prepared for was this intense scrutiny. The creature leaned forward over me and sniffed, a faint line appearing on his brow as he frowned. He sniffed at me again and then sat back on his heels, regarding me curiously.

"What are you?" he asked softly.

My heart stopped for a moment as I suddenly saw the bright spark of curiosity in his eyes.

"Oh Bill...you know all about me" I said quietly "you know me very well, at least….you used to."

"You smell….familiar...delicious."

It was more than I could say for him! He gave off a sour reek of sweat and old blood. This vampire god had apparently manifested itself several nights ago and it looked, and smelt, as though he hadn't washed since! A shower would be a good idea.

"Bill?" I whispered. "Do you know who I am?"

He stared back at me in silence. Stupid question, I thought. He doesn't even know who he is! I reached forward to touch him. As my right arm was handcuffed I moved my left, without thinking. The pain felt as though someone was trying to take my arm off with a blunt knife. I gave an involuntary shriek of agony and fell back gasping. He leaned forward and examined my arm which, I was now horrified to observe, was actually bent where the bones had broken.

"They have hurt you!" he said, his expression hardening again. "They will pay for that!"

He raised his hand and pierced his thumb with one long fang. He watched it for a moment, his head again tilted to one side, seemingly entranced, as the blood welled up from the tiny wound, then reached forward and smeared it on my lips. I could not imagine that such a small amount could have any effect on such a serious injury but I would take whatever I could get right now. At least, I thought, it might dull the pain. I licked my lips and swallowed the trace of blood. For a moment, as I had expected, nothing happened, but then it was as if the centre of me exploded and a wave of fiery pain washed out over me, spreading out from my stomach, over my body and down my arms and legs. My back arched in an involuntary spasm and I screamed again.

Then, as suddenly as it had begun, the pain was gone. I lay on my back for a moment, afraid to move. Then I realised that the all the pain was gone. Not just the agony of my broken arm but all my pains, the bruising on my hip where I had been thrown into the cell with the rest of the "livestock" and on my face where the guard had slapped me, the twisted ankle I had suffered when I was thrown onto the bed and handcuffed. I was completely healed.

I looked up and saw the creature that I still thought of as Bill watching me patiently. He reached above my head and pulled the bolt that I was chained to out of the wall with one sharp tug. Then he ripped the handcuff off my wrist and tossed it onto the floor.

"Thank you." I whispered.

I swung my legs carefully off the bed and stood up, somewhat shakily. Bill stood up beside me and I froze for a moment, thinking that he was about to stop me but he seemed merely curious as to what I would do next, following me with his eyes as I stepped over to the other door opposite the bed. I assumed that he was confident in his ability to catch me if I attempted to run away, but that was not what I had in mind. I pulled the door open and glanced inside. Yes, just as I had thought, it was a bathroom with a large shower. I turned back to Bill and held out my hand to him.

He regarded me for a moment and then appeared to decide to go along with me. He came over and offered me his hand with a tiny smile. I smiled back at him and took his hand, pulling him gently after me into the bathroom. Switching on the shower and adjusting the temperature I stepped under the spray and turned back to him. He followed me without hesitation but stopped as soon as the spray hit him. He held out his hand, feeling the warm water and looked puzzled, as though he had never entered a shower before. However he seemed to decide that he approved of it as he then stepped fully under the shower with me. I took down a bottle of liquid soap from a shelf and poured some on my hands. Bill stood immobile watching me carefully, water dripping from his hair and running down his body as I began to gently rub my soapy hands over his chest, carefully cleaning off the crust of dried blood and dirt.

He made no move to stop me and I became more confident, scrubbing at his arms and shoulders and crouching down before him to clean his legs, working my way up his calves to his strongly muscled thighs. Observing his condition I judged it safer to move around behind him at that point and clean his back and buttocks. As I did so I realised that he was not the only one who was becoming aroused by my actions. My brain kept telling me that this was not Bill. It was some creature that I didn't know. One that had very probably killed a number of other girls who had been thrown into this room as food for him and might very well kill me too. However my body had no such inhibitions. It recognised Bill's body beside me. Bill's naked body in fact, and it was reacting accordingly.

Well, perhaps this was no bad thing I thought to myself. I knew that I had been given to this creature, as a gift from his worshippers. The human livestock held in this place were there to provide them with the two things that vampires required, blood and sex. I imagined that the requirements of a vampire god would be no different. At least my body's instinctive reaction to Bill's proximity would make it easier for me to accommodate him. That way I might even survive this.

I took a deep breath and slid my hand up his thigh, soaping the softer skin of his inner thigh and gently working my hand higher until my fingers brushed the hair between his legs. He gave a little sigh and slid his legs apart, encouraging me, so I began to gently soap his heavy balls and his thick, hard shaft. The dried sweat and dirt was gone now and Bill gave another little sigh of contentment as his clear, alabaster skin emerged from beneath the crusted blood. If I was about to be ravished by a god, at least it would be a clean one! I began to move my hand up onto his stomach but Bill had other ideas. His large hand closed over mine and he moved it purposefully back to his swelling member, folding it around the shaft and using my hand to rub himself firmly, his eyes closed and his beautifully sculpted lips slightly open, revealing the enormous fangs I had noticed earlier.

Suddenly he appeared to wake up and I found myself caught up in his arms and carried out of the bathroom and back to the huge bed. He laid me down carefully, hovering over me, his fangs now extended so far that he seemed unable to close his mouth. The mouth that was now inches from mine. I gazed up at him thinking that, if I was going to die anyway, I might as well make the most of him while I still could. Reaching up I took his head between my hands and kissed him, as deeply and passionately as I could. He looked surprised at first but then began to respond to my kiss, his tongue sliding between my lips and gently stroking at the roof of my mouth. I felt his hands begin to slide down to my hips and his knee slipped between my thighs, pushing my legs apart.

He pulled his mouth from mine and his eyes moved to my throat just as I felt his hips push forward as he positioned himself between my thighs.

"Oh Bill" I whispered desperately. "Please be gentle, please..."

I felt his fangs slice into my throat just as he drove himself into me and with one strong pull I felt my heart begin to slow as the blood was drawn up in a single powerful draught and I passed out.


	9. Chapter 9

My first conscious thought was that I felt cold. I wanted to open my eyes but I couldn't seem to summon up the energy. Surely you shouldn't be able to feel cold when you were dead? That seemed a bit unfair, to have to spend eternity in a draught.

"Oh don't be so ridiculous!" I muttered to myself and forced my eyes open.

A pair of bright blue eyes gazed down at me...Bill's eyes. His lips curled up in that familiar smile as I looked back at him.

"Hello Alex" he whispered.

"Bill! Oh Bill...is that really you?" I so wanted to believe it but it seemed for a moment as if I might be dreaming it. I wanted to touch him but I couldn't seem to raise my arm, or in fact move at all. A trace of panic must have shown in my eyes as Bill reached down and stroked my cheek gently. "It's okay, you'll be alright" he said.

"What's wrong with me?" I asked, the panic only abating slightly at his words.

"I drank from you too deeply" he explained softly. "I almost drained you...I'm so sorry, but I don't think it would be safe to give you any of my blood just now, it could be dangerous for you. I only gave you a tiny drop to heal your arm and that was almost too much for you. Just relax, you'll be okay, trust me."

"Is it really you?" I asked again. "Ulrich told me you were possessed...by the Goddess. You certainly didn't appear to be yourself. I was convinced that you would kill me."

"Yes, precious, it's really me. It's difficult to explain" said Bill "but I think... wait! Ulrich sent you here?" Bill's expression hardened and his eyes grew colder and darker. "What was he thinking of!" he said furiously "She could have killed you! I could never have forgiven myself if I had let her harm you..."

"Well no, he didn't actually..., She?" I asked, confused, "Who is She?"

Bill stared down at me for a moment and then slipped his arms under me, lifting me up and moving my unresisting body across the bed so that he could lie down beside me. My limbs felt as though they were made of lead but I realised that some feeling was returning at least.

"How much did he tell you?" he asked. "About Lilith?"

"He told me that vampires, or some vampires at least believe that Lilith is a goddess. That she was the first, created before Adam and in the image of God. I didn't let him know that you'd already told me this mind you."

"Yes" said Bill thoughtfully. "That's what the vampire bible tells us..."

"But I'd already heard of her." I said "She appears in biblical legends as Adam's first wife. So...that fits?"

Bill sighed and turned on his side to look over at me. "Our bible tells us that Lilith met the sun by the hand of man. Her remains were collected the next night and her sacred blood was scattered in small amounts around the world for safekeeping. This is what The Vampire Authority was created for...to protect the blood of Lilith. They have done so for many centuries until recently some vampires took it upon themselves to taste the sacred blood. When they did, she appeared to them...as, a spirit, a hallucination, who knows?" He stared down at me seriously, "But she is real Alex, believe me and she is powerful. This was the beginning of the Sanguinista movement that Ulrich told us about. This was why he sent me in as a spy. And to get them to trust me I had to taste the blood as well." Bill paused and rolled onto his back, staring at the ceiling for a moment.

"She appeared to me Alex..." he looked over at me. "She said that she had chosen me to represent her, to lead her followers. I knew somehow that this wasn't entirely true, that she had said the same to others before me but she has such a power, a presence... It was a struggle not to just go along with it. But I didn't, truly!" He gazed at me earnestly, as if it were vital that I believe him.

I made an enormous effort and discovered that I was able to lift my arm. I placed my hand on his and whispered "I believe you Bill, but something happened, something went wrong?"

He sighed and put his arm across my waist, snuggling up to me as if he were the one who needed protection. "It's difficult to explain, since I don't really understand myself." He thought for a moment, stroking my arm absently. "Did Ulrich tell you what had happened? That Berenice and I were chosen?"

I nodded silently.

"There were two goblets, one was filled with human blood and the other with blood from the sacred jar. The idea was that Lilith herself would choose one of us." He turned to me, his eyes full of the desperation he must have felt at the time. "I didn't want to do it, but I couldn't see any way out…to refuse would have been blasphemy. They would have killed me on the spot and besides, I didn't really believe anything would happen! I'd seen her, yes, but I was sure that it was a hallucination, that she wasn't real!" He gave a small smile, "and besides, everyone, including Berenice, assumed that she would be chosen!"

He turned away from me and stared blankly up at the ceiling. "I drank from the goblet and….something happened. It was as if my entire body was on fire. Then there was a sensation of falling, falling into darkness. There were flashes of feelings, I could feel you sleeping, through the bond. But much stonger were Lilith's feelings….." he turned back to me, his eyes wide. "Oh Alex, she's so powerful…..so strong, but so angry, full of hate and bitterness. She was destroyed by humans and she wants revenge. She wants us, vampires, to rule, to take over. She doesn't understand that it's no longer possible. Perhaps, in her time it might have been, but not now. We're vastly outnumbered and vulnerable during the day….. if she has her way we could all be wiped out!"

Bill turned to me and I saw the desperation was back in his eyes. "I have to stop her somehow."

"But how can you?" I asked. "Do you mean that she's still inside you, her spirit? Can you influence her?"

Bill was silent for a moment, clearly struggling to explain what had happened to him. He began to speak hesitatingly. "At first I could feel nothing, see nothing. I thought perhaps that I had, in fact, met the true death. Then I realised that the darkness and the cold that I could feel all around me was alive! It was her...Lilith...our goddess! I could feel her anger, her hatred and her madness surrounding me. And then she must have realised that she...well, that she existed...in the real world, that she had physical form again. I felt a wave of fierce exultation wash over me seeming to push me back. It was as if I was cowering in a corner of my own mind, hiding, hoping that she wouldn't notice me." Bill's eyes were wide with terror at the memory. "I felt flashes of emotions from her, heard cries...cries of pain and fear..."

He looked at me with a terrible fear in his eyes. "I don't want to remember Alex. I don't want to know what I did...what she did..." He paused and seemed to make a effort to relax his tense muscles.

"Then, I remember you...the scent of you, I was leaning over you and the memories of you overwhelmed her, seemed to drive her back somehow. It was almost as if she feared you." He reached over and stroked my face gently. "And then you reached up and kissed me, your kiss, your embrace and the taste of your blood seemed to make everything come back to me somehow. Your magic seemed to flow into me, I could feel your fear, your courage, your determination to find me, to help me. I remembered everything about you and as I did so I also remembered who I was and I was myself again, I found myself in control just in time to stop her from draining you completely."

"Can you keep it that way?" I asked nervously "Can you hold her back?"

"Oh yes!" Bill seemed quite confident. "Now that I know how. She's strong, far stronger than me in fact, but I have an advantage here." He smiled at me. "This is my body she's trying to take over. I've lived in it for 175 years, I know it far better than she ever could." He grinned. "Now that you've been able to get me back in control, I can manage her from here. It's as if the tables have been turned, now she's the one hiding out in my mind...she's been talking to me. Trying to persuade me to let her take over again, but I'm stronger than she thinks. She's..." Bill paused, his head on one side, as if listening to a voice only he could hear "angry, frustrated... but I think she's beginning to accept that she will have to work with me rather than against me from now on. She's spent the last few hours, while you slept, trying to persuade me, tempt me, get back in control somehow. But she can't, she's trapped now and she's beginning to realise that she picked the wrong vampire!"

"No" I said thoughtfully "she picked the right vampire...she just doesn't realise it yet."

Bill turned to me, puzzled. "You think this was a good thing?"

"Well, yes. In a way" I said. Bill looked shocked at this pronouncement. "Think about this Bill" I said. "This is why she chose you and not Berenice. Because Berenice is older and stronger, she thought you would be easier to manipulate. If she had chosen someone else, someone weaker, someone that she could control completely, what would she do? From what you've just said it sounds as if she wants to start a war. A war you know vampires could never win!" I watched as he thought about this. "Yes, she could cause chaos and unimaginable pain and terror but in the end...you said it yourself, you would be wiped out."

Bill lay back against the pillows and sighed. "You're right of course." He said, but there was a sadness in his eyes which worried me.

"Bill?...what is it?" I asked.

"I just remembering something you said to me. It was when we were on the Lady Eleanor. You said you were afraid for me. "This is how monsters are made" you said "from pain and loss and grief." Well she has suffered more pain and loss than you can possibly imagine."

I stared at him, shocked. "Oh my God! You're sorry for her! Bill, you can't. You have to be strong. You can't let her get to you like that!"

He smiled down at me. "Don't worry" he said. "I might be sympathetic, but I'm not stupid! She and I are beginning to come to some kind of equilibrium. A symbiotic relationship. But you...she fears you, she fears my feelings for you. When I first tasted the blood she appeared to me, but it was at the Mill House. I had travelled there in some kind of trance. You were there, curled up on that sofa before the fire and when she approached me, you knew somehow and your presence held her back."

"This was two nights ago?" I asked, thinking of the curious incident when I had become convinced that Bill was in danger. Had he been there with me in some way after all? Was this some unexpected effect of the blood bond?

"Yes" he said. I saw a realisation dawning in his eyes. "You felt it too didn't you?"

I closed my eyes. "Oh this is too complicated for me!" I muttered. "I'm just so relieved to have you back...I thought I'd never see you again." I turned my head to him. "Please Bill, just hold me."

Bill turned on his side and lifted me in his arms, turning me away from him and pulling my body tightly against his. He put his arms around me and one hand trailed down my stomach, the tips of his fingers gently brushing over my skin.

"Mmm...I'm just too tired to move..." I murmured.

"Then don't" he whispered. "Just relax."

I lay limp in his arms as his clever fingers gently caressed my skin, moving lower, until his fingertips were just brushing between my thighs, over my most sensitive spot with each stroke. I felt his hand slide down my thigh and pull me back, lifting my leg gently so that his thick, hard shaft could slide inside me. Then he released my thigh and simply lay still holding me for a moment. My sleepy brain processed the contrast between this gentle treatment and the almost savage way he had taken me just a few hours ago. Yes, this was the Bill I remembered!

He brushed the hair away from the back of my neck and began to nuzzle against me, kissing my neck as he moved gently within me building up a smooth, calm rhythm. In a surprisingly short time I felt a heavy ball of heat swelling up inside me, increasing with every gentle stroke until, with a soft cry from Bill, it burst, flooding out through my body in a wave. No writhing limbs, no fireworks, just a gentle, comforting warmth as I lay locked in Bill's arms and drifted off to sleep.


	10. Chapter 10

I woke to hear a knock at the door. I just had time to pull the sheet up over myself before the door opened and two young blonde women came in each carrying a tray. They had the glazed look which I had come to associate with humans who had been glamoured. They came over to the bed and placed the trays on the large table beside it. The delicious smell of bacon and coffee floated up.

"Um…thanks" I said glancing across at Bill, who was lying motionless at my side.

They both stood looking at their feet as if afraid to raise their eyes. "We live only to serve the Master" said one in a breathless little whisper.

I stared at them for a moment. "Is that right?" I said, an unpleasant suspicion beginning to form in my mind. "And he asked you to bring me breakfast?"

"While you slept my Lady" said the more talkative of the two.

My Lady! Oh, this was getting weirder by the second.

"Right! ….well, thank you" I said briskly and, I hoped, dismissively. It seemed to work as they turned in unison and headed for the door. As soon as it closed behind them I sat up and reached for the coffee pot. As I poured a cup I felt Bill stir beside me and looked over at him.

He sniffed. "You got your breakfast then?" he murmured.

"Of course!" I answered "after all, they live only to serve you!"

He relaxed and appeared to fall back into sleep, then suddenly his sleepy brain appeared to have processed what I had said. He stiffened and his eyes flicked open. I watched him with an expression of mild curiosity. "So how exactly does it manifest itself….this "service"?" I asked.

Bill looked embarrassed. "Well, they all serve me" he said defensively "at least, they serve Lilith, and she lives in me."

"I was referring to those two blondes, Tweedledum and Tweedledee, specifically!" I said sharply. "They serviced you in more ways than one…..right?"

Bill rolled over and buried his face in the pillow. "Possibly…." he muttered.

"What do you mean… "possibly!" I growled. "Are you suggesting that you could have had sex with two blonde bimbos and not know about it!"

"Well yes, actually I am!" he said, sitting up. "You saw what I was like…Lilith….. she was completely in control. The last thing I really remember clearly was standing with Berenice in the drawing room and drinking from one of the two goblets. After that it's just flashes…..until I suddenly found myself here with you in my arms."

"So you think Lilith wanted to have sex with two girls?" I asked.

"Well, since she was using my body I guess so…." He said guiltily.

I put my coffee down and leaned against him with a sigh, my arm around his shoulders. "It's okay, you're right, I saw what had happened to you, what she had done to you…..

Bill lay down, pulling me down beside him and I snuggled up against him. "Never mind that now" I said. "You need to rest, you'll get the bleeds.

Bill chuckled. "It's nearly dusk! That should really be dinner" he said.

"I've just woken up, that makes it breakfast!" I replied sitting up again and folding some bacon up in a bread roll. "So, what do we do now? Do you think that Berenice and her followers will still accept you as the incarnation of the Goddess, or whatever it is they think you are?" I asked.

"Why wouldn't they" asked Bill, sounding surprised.

"Well..." I turned to look at him. "You sure don't look like you did last night!"

Bill pushed the sheet back and looked down at himself. "Well, I'm clean. That's good right?"

"That's not what they expect though is it?" I pointed out reasonably.

He looked thoughtful for a moment. "Hmmm...we might be able to do something about that." He closed his eyes and lay back.

I watched him for a moment while eating my impromptu bacon roll. "What exactly are you...?"

Bill held up a hand and I stopped.

As I watched, what looked at first like a bruise appeared on his belly and began to spread across his stomach. The mark darkened until it was a deep red and began to spread in curls across his skin up his chest and onto his shoulders forming whorls and spirals that resembled the tribal tattoos I had seen occasionally on guys who came into the club. Except that, instead of black, these were the colour of blood. I watched in astonishment as the marks spread down his limbs and up his throat onto his face, swirling and flowing together until every inch of his skin was covered.

He opened his eyes and sat up, turning to me.

I sat, holding a half eaten bacon roll in my hand, with my mouth hanging open, staring at the apparition before me.

"What do you think?" he asked. "Is that more...believable?"

"Oh yeah! That's... how did you do that?" I asked.

"I didn't do it" he said, examining his hands. "She did it."

"Bill" I asked quietly "what is she?"

"I don't really know, since she doesn't either" he answered. "She was the first of our kind, the mother of all vampires. She is very old and very strong. She is a powerful spiritual entity. She could be called either a Goddess or a Demon I suppose, depending on your point of view or on her actions."

He looked back at me. "What is a God after all?" he asked thoughtfully. "Is one worshipped because one is a God or does one become a God because one is worshipped?"

I looked at him sideways. "Please tell me you're not suggesting that because these…. these Sanguinistas worship you, you could actually become a God?" I said sceptically.

"I have no idea!" he said drowsily, lying down again and closing his eyes "but Lilith's presence within me gives me the powers of a God…..and they do worship me..."

"Is that you talking, or her?" I asked

"You just eat your breakfast, and anything else they bring you, and don't argue!" muttered Bill, sleepily.

"Of course dear!" I said snuggling up to him. "I live only to serve you!"

He gave a little snort. "If only that were true!" he grumbled as he slipped back into sleep.

I obediently ate everything on the trays and drank all the coffee and by sundown I was feeling a lot better, although still not quite my usual self. How much of that was due to the loss of blood and how much to the shocks I had suffered over the last few days I wasn't entirely sure.

I had gone into the bathroom for a quick shower and was just coming out towelling my hair when Bill woke. He stretched and sat up, turning to me with a smile. I stopped dead, staring at him. It seemed so strange to see this creature smiling. I walked over to him.

"Er...Bill" I asked tentatively. "You can change that skin colour back can't you?"

He laughed and batted his eyelashes at me suggestively. "Why...don't you like it?"

"Well...no!" I admitted. "It's just not you, is it?"

"Yes. I can change it back. But I'm definitely still me! Honestly. Why don't you come over here and find out?" he asked reaching for my hands.

He sat on the edge of the bed and pulled me onto his lap. I touched him gently, carefully. Moving my hand up his muscled arm to his shoulder. I closed my eyes feeling the usual cool smoothness of his skin, but when I opened them I saw a strange creature with skin the colour of blood. I closed my eyes again, feeling slightly uncomfortable and felt Bill's cool, soft lips brush across mine. He slipped a hand behind my neck and pulled me to him for a deeper kiss. Oh yes, this felt like Bill all right!

He released my neck and put both hands under my thighs, lifting me up and pulling me forward onto him. I braced my knees on either side of his hips and slipped my arms around his neck, leaning in to his kiss. His hands began to ease my knees apart, spreading me open for him as I sank down onto his rock hard member. I kept my eyes tightly closed, struggling not to think of the blood red colour of his flesh as he lifted me and allowed me to fall in a rhythm which became faster and faster until I felt that I would fly apart.

Afterwards when I sat shuddering in his arms I realised that something else was different as well.

"You didn't bite me?" I murmured in Bill's ear.

"You still need to recover from last night" he whispered back.

"Mmm...yes, you got enough then to last you a while!" I muttered weakly. "Not to mention what you got from that little redhead..." Suddenly my eyes flew open and I stared down at him, horrified. "Oh my God, Bill! Those people in the cells! How could I have forgotten about them?"

"Cells?" asked Bill, puzzled.

"You don't remember?" I asked.

"Well...I remember a girl with red hair. I remember feeding from her. But it seems like a lifetime ago..."

"I spoke to her, in the cells" I explained.

"She's still alive?" he asked, his eyes lighting up.

"Well, she was! But she might not be for long if we don't get her, and the rest of them out of there before your worshippers wake up!"

Bill sighed. "Yes, of course we must."

I leaned forward and kissed him again. "Oh Bill, I'm so glad to hear you say that!"

He looked quite shocked for a moment. "Did you think I wouldn't?" he asked.

"Well, I'll bet good money that you're the only vampire in this building who would!" I said sharply. "But there's another reason."

Bill's eyes narrowed. "I don't need another reason Alex! We have to get them out because what's happening here is wrong!"

"I know that sweetheart" I said, kissing him again. "But you need to know this anyway. When I spoke to Ulrich the other night he told me that the Authority is being pressured by the Army to do something about this "movement" of yours. They are thinking seriously of burning this place down, with all Lilith's worshippers inside!"

"They can't do that!" said Bill, horrified.

"Why not?" I asked. "They could come along at midday, couple of rocket launchers through the windows, job done! They wouldn't even have to open the front door! You guys may be top predators, unnaturally strong and fast and all that stuff, but you're not invincible you know!"

Bill simply watched me for a moment. I put my head on his shoulder. "Oh baby! I'm sorry I didn't mean that...not you!"

He hugged me tightly to him. "It's alright honey, I know that" he murmured. "I just can't imagine what you've been through over the last few days."

I smiled up at him. "Everything's okay now. But we'll have to negotiate with them somehow. And if they find a group of naked people locked in cells in the basement they're not going to be in the mood to talk with you now are they?"

"Sure" said Bill. "Let's go get them out. But this isn't going to help my standing with the others, you realise that?"

"Why should it matter?" I asked. "You're their God right? You tell them what to do and they do it!"

He smiled. "Right! So I am!" He stood up, lifting me and putting me down carefully on the bed, and began to stride purposefully towards the door.

"Um...Bill?"

He turned back. "What?"

"Don't you think you should put some pants on first?"

He looked down at himself, appearing slightly embarrassed. "Ah...yes." He looked around vaguely. "Have I been walking around like this for days?"

"I guess Lilith doesn't worry too much about clothing huh?" I said. "Try that cupboard over there."

Bill found a pair of faded jeans and I selected a bathrobe and put it on as we headed downstairs to the wooden door at the end of the corridor which I remembered only too well. The door was locked but a well placed kick from Bill broke the lock and the door flew open. The steps led down to the dark dingy corridor and I hurried down with Bill close behind. At the sight of Bill every single human in the cells shrank back against the walls in a horrified silence. He looked at me and retreated back into the shadows, leaving me to talk to the girls who had been thrown in the cell with me. To my huge relief they were all still there.

As I tried to persuade them to come up to the bars the door opened and the two vampire guards came in. The first one down the steps was the one who had dragged me out of the cell. He stared at me in astonishment. "Well I'll be..." he grinned at me. "I've no idea how you got loose, but you are going to pay for this!"

"Oh, I don't think so" I said with a smile. "Now open up these cells right now or you'll be in big trouble!"

He laughed. "Are you crazy? You can't possibly imagine I'd be scared of you!"

I smiled at him again. "Oh no...I'm not a very scary person at all." I watched as his face changed when Bill stepped out of the shadows behind me. "But my friend here? Well he's a really scary guy!" I turned to Bill. "He's the one who broke my arm by the way!"

Both guards had backed up against the bars as Bill stepped forward. "Open the cells please." He said politely.

I'll say this for that guard. He may not have been very bright, but he had guts. He looked straight at Bill and said, rather shakily. "I only take orders from the Guardian."

Bill smiled. "She always did know how to inspire loyalty in her followers" he said. "Very well. I'll do it myself." He closed his eyes for a moment, there was a bang and all four locks burst at the same time.

I gaped at him. "Did you do that?" I whispered.

"Yes" he said simply.

"Okay...right" I said weakly. "What now? We can't just let them go can we? They know too much about what's been going on in here."

Bill gestured to the two guards to step aside and closed his eyes again. As I watched him I felt something...strange. As if something were probing gently at my mind. All of a sudden I realised what was happening. Bill had cast some kind of glamour over the whole room and I was feeling the effects. I didn't recognise it at first because he had never tried to glamour me before. The people in the cells were all staring at him blankly except, I noticed, for the little redhead who was pressed into the corner with her back to us.

Just as I noticed this I felt the pressure ease and Bill opened his eyes and backed away from the bars. He gestured to the guard who had pulled me from the cell who was standing in the corridor with his mouth hanging open in shock. "Now would you like to open these doors or shall we discuss my friend's arm?" He asked, quite pleasantly but with just a hint that the guard might not enjoy the discussion.

He began to open the cell doors while the other guard opened a door at the end of the corridor which I hadn't noticed before. Inside was a large storeroom with piles of clothing on the shelves. Our clothes! I nipped in and grabbed my jeans and T shirt, pulling them on while everyone began to get dressed. When everyone was ready Bill told one of the guards to show them out of the house.

It was only then that I noticed the slim redheaded girl was still in the cell. She did not appear to have been glamoured and I could only assume that Bill had somehow skipped over her mind as he had done with mine. He pulled the door open and stepped into the cell.

"Hello again" he said holding out his hand to her. "I won't hurt you, I promise." I came into the cell behind him with an armful of clothing which had been left in the storeroom.

"I guess some of these must be yours?" I asked.

"Oh yes" she answered in a small voice and began to rummage through them. She selected a skirt and blouse and I helped her dress while Bill watched us silently.

When she was fully clothed again, he reached out and gently brushed the hair back from her neck, revealing two fang marks. With a slight shock I realised that they were his! He traced a fingertip gently over the marks and they disappeared instantly. The girl reached up and felt her throat, her eyes widening as her fingers moved over the smooth skin where the marks had been.

"Thank you" she whispered.

"I remember you" said Bill thoughtfully. "You are one of the last things I do remember. They brought you back here after...?"

"Yes" she said. "Everyone was astonished that I was still alive!"

Bill knelt down before her, the distress clear in his eyes and took her hands. "But there were others weren't there?" he asked. "Others who didn't survive?"

She said nothing, just looked down at him.

"Can you ever forgive me?" he asked.

Rather to my surprise she smiled down at him. "It wasn't you was it?" she asked. "It was something else. And even then, you weren't the worst of them. If they had given me to anyone else I'd be dead by now." She tugged at his hands and he stood up slowly. "There's nothing to forgive you for. But the others..." she glanced up the corridor to the door at the top of the stairs and shuddered. "Can you control them?"

"Yes" he answered. "And I will! I promise you that this will never happen here again." He gazed at her seriously and asked "Do you want to remember this place? I can take it all away for you if you like."

"No" she said after a moment's thought. "Someone should remember them."

He nodded and opened the cell door for her and stood back as we walked out into the corridor. "I don't even know your name?" I said as we climbed the steps.

"Lucy" she answered. "My name's Lucy."

"I'm Alex" I said.

She turned to me at the top of the stairs. "You helped him didn't you Alex?" she asked. "You helped him to find his way back? Without that we might all have died here."

"Yes, I suppose I did."

Bill came out of the doorway behind us and put his hand on my shoulder.

"We need to find Berenice" he said. "I have to convince her to back me up before the others."

"We!" I said "What do you mean, we!"

He laughed. "You don't seriously think I'm going to leave you alone in this place do you? I'm not letting you out of my sight!" He took hold of my hand firmly and turned to Lucy. "Will you be okay?"

She smiled at us. "You go ahead, I'll be fine now."

"Come on" said Bill leading me up the stairs. At the other end of the long corridor we found a matching carved wooden door to the one to his room.

"I'd say this would be her room wouldn't you?" he asked.

"You mean you don't know?" I said suspiciously.

Bill sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. "Yes" he said, opening his eyes. "This is it." He turned back to me. "Lilith recognises it" he said.

"Oh she does, does she? So she's been here before?"

Bill took my hands and lifted them to his lips. "Alex, please...you must understand that, whatever she did, I had no control over it. You do see that don't you? You know that I would never knowingly betray you?"

I stepped forward and he put his arms around me. "I'm sorry" I said. "I know that you had no control over her. I know I'm being totally unreasonable! I promise not to even think about this again...okay?"

He kissed me gently. "I appreciate that, really I do. I know it must be hard for you, especially after all you've done for me and knowing that Berenice is an old friend only makes it worse. But I love you Alex." He paused for a moment. "You remember I told you what had happened when I first tasted the blood. You said that you felt me that night, at the Mill House? Well, when Berenice gave me the blood she said that it would take me to my heart's desire. She assumed this meant that I would see Lilith but she was not quite right. I did see the Goddess, but first the blood took me straight to you." He kissed me again. "You are my heart's desire Alex."

I leaned my head against his chest and we stood locked in each other's arms for a moment. I didn't want to move, I just wanted to stay there, safe, until we could leave this place. But I knew that it wasn't safe. Not until Bill had established his authority over the others. I pulled back gently and looked up at him, startled yet again by the vivid colour of his flesh. He took my hand and opened the door.


	11. Chapter 11

The room was very similar to the one that Bill occupied at the other end of the long corridor. When we walked in Berenice was sitting at a dressing table brushing her long black hair. She turned and glanced over her shoulder when she heard the door open.

"Is there something you need my Lord?" she asked. Then her gaze fell on me.

"What on earth is she doing here? Really my Lord, if you didn't wish to finish her off you could have left her in the bedroom. That's what the handcuffs are for!"

"I have no intention of either "finishing her off" or leaving her in handcuffs!" said Bill sharply.

Berenice's eyes widened and she stared at him in disbelief. "William?" she said. "Is that you? What...what's happened?" She got up from the stool and walked towards him. "How have you done this? Where is Lilith?"

"She is here too" said Bill calmly. "But I'm in charge now. This is my body remember. No-one asked me if she could simply take it over!"

"William!" Berenice looked totally shocked. "She is our Goddess, we invited her in, we should be honoured that she would use our bodies for her purposes."

Bill appeared to consider this for a moment. "No...I don't recall signing up for that!" he answered. "In fact I distinctly recall you telling me that you were to be the vessel for the Goddess."

She looked slightly embarrassed at this reminder. "Clearly I was not considered worthy" she said stiffly.

Bill burst out laughing. "And I was! Boy was that a mistake!"

Berenice gazed at him in horror and Bill stepped towards her with a patient sigh. "Please Berenice, try and understand. This has come as a complete shock to me. You have spent thousands of years preparing for this. I only learned of it...what was it? a few nights ago? You might have been honoured to give up your body to Lilith, but I'm certainly not! And I don't intend to either."

Berenice simply stared at him and reached out a hand to touch his bare chest. She drew her fingertips across his blood red skin and then examined them. He looked down at himself. "Ah! Yes!"

"She is still within you then?" she asked.

"Yes" said Bill "but I'm going to need your help to convince the others, to get them to change their thinking. They are your followers. They will listen to you."

"What do you mean, change their thinking?" she asked looking confused.

Bill straightened up a little. "I have released the humans from the cells. We cannot continue to prey on humans the way we have in the past, not now that they know of our existence. We have to modify our behaviour and embrace mainstreaming from now on. It's the only way forward."

"You've done what?" Berenice was clearly horrified. She staggered back and sat down on the edge of the bed "But William, this is not what she asked of us. This is not what she wanted!"

"No," he said, "it is not. I do understand what she wanted Berenice. But she lives in me now. Her plans for us would have brought us all to destruction. Surely you can see that. You cannot imagine that humans would allow us to take over without a fight! She was living in the past. Thousands of years in the past in fact. In her time humans lived in terror of the night. They lit fires and chanted spells to hold back the darkness. But that time is long gone. Adam's children have grown up. They have made so many advances since her time, yours too. To attempt to bring about her new world would only cause unimaginable horror and pain and in the end we would lose! We would all be wiped out. She is our mother Berenice. Do you think that is what she wants for her children?"

He walked over and knelt on the floor beside her taking her hands in his.

"She understands now why this would never have worked. She knows this because I know it and I cannot lie to her. She had no idea what had happened in the outside world because you did not really understand it either. You were so isolated you were unable to give her the information she needed."

Suddenly Berenice's face fell and she looked completely devastated. "Are you saying that...that I have failed her?" she asked in a small voice.

"No!...no of course not!" Bill brought her hands to his lips and kissed them gently. "For two thousand years you cared for her and protected her. You had no life of your own. She appreciates that, really. But she needs to know what's happening now, out there in the real world. I can give her that knowledge."

"She no longer needs me?" she asked. I found myself actually feeling sorry for her, she sounded completely bereft. I wondered how it would feel to have your whole life's purpose taken away at a stroke.

He reached up and put his hands on either side of her head and closed his eyes. I watched as Berenice's expression changed from devastation at the thought that she had failed in her lifelong service to the Goddess through surprise, to a blissful peace. Bill released her and she reached up and took his hands.

"I felt her, William!" she whispered. "She spoke to me." She gazed at him in awe. "She really does live in you!"

"Yes" answered Bill. "She does. But, as I said, I'm going to need your help convincing the others that she does. This..." he gestured at his body, "this is an outward sign of the Goddess, but what I have to say to them isn't going to go down too well!"

She looked surprised at this. "They will do as Lilith commands!" she said firmly.

Bill smiled and sat down on the bed beside her. "I wish I had your confidence" he said. "But somehow I don't think that everyone here is quite as dedicated to the Goddess as you are my dear. Perhaps I'm just being cynical but I have a suspicion that some have attached themselves to your movement simply because they like the idea of causing trouble for the Authority and killing humans. They are using the worship of Lilith as an excuse to behave like animals. Dangerous animals.

"Dangerous!" she said. "Dangerous to who?"

"Dangerous to all of us!" said Bill. He gestured to me and I walked across the room to them, somewhat tentatively. Berenice's eyes narrowed as she regarded me.

"Isn't this the one you chose last night?" she asked curiously. "Why is she here? What has she to do with this?"

Bill took a completely unnecessary deep breath. "This may come as a shock to you Berenice, but this is Alexandra. She is my business partner and...my girlfriend."

Boy, I really wished that I had a camera! Berenice's face was a picture. I've never seen anyone look quite so surprised in my life. She opened and closed her mouth a few times before she was actually able to speak. "You're courting a human girl?" she asked incredulously. "William, how could you?"

I giggled. "Courting" sounded so delightfully old fashioned and yet at the same time exactly like something Bill would do.

"It's worse than that I'm afraid!" said Bill cheerfully. "She lives with me."

Berenice looked, if possible, even more shocked. I watched her face thinking that she couldn't have been more surprised if Bill had just told her that he was living with a particularly attractive sheep. Although, come to think of it, that was exactly how they regarded us wasn't it? As livestock? Eww! I shook myself.

"But" continued Bill, "the point is that, two nights ago, she had a visit from Ulrich."

Berenice simply sat, frozen. "Ulrich Von Schröder? Of the Vampire Authority? He visited her?"

I felt that this theatrical amazement was getting a bit too much now. "Actually" I said innocently, "I think he fancies me...just a little!" Bill glared at me. "What, dear?" I asked. "Surely you can't have forgotten all those roses?"

"The point" said Bill firmly "is not the fact that he visited her but what he told her. He says that he is being pressured by the Army to do something about us! Lilith's worshippers, the Sanguinistas, are starting to cause serious problems for humans and therefore also for the Authority. They are getting out of control, killing at random. I have sent him a text asking him to come here for talks and to bring his colleagues from the Ministry of Defence with him. They will be here in a few hours."

"When did you manage that?" I asked.

"When we were down in the basement" he explained. "While you were talking to the girls in the cell." He turned back to Berenice. "So you see, in the next few hours we will need to get your followers behind us so that I'll be in a position to allow them in."

"What?" I asked. "You think you're going to answer the door? Looking like that? Are you crazy? They'll shoot you on sight!"

Berenice looked horrified that I would dare to even address Bill in these terms. Presumably because I didn't grovel and call him "My Lord" or assure him that I lived only to serve him! Bill, however, ignored her and looked down at himself.

"Hmm...you're probably right. Well, this house belongs to Darius, so he should be the host I suppose."

"Darius is never going to agree to this" said Berenice. "He didn't even want you to be involved in the ceremony at all. He'll never believe that Lilith has changed her plans. Trust me, he was delighted with the originals!"

Bill sighed. "Then he's part of the problem."

He turned to Berenice. "And you? What do you believe?"

Berenice looked from Bill to me and back again. "Well...I can't say that I approve of your association with a human, but...Oh William, when you touched me I could feel her within you! I heard her voice in my head. I have no option but to follow her instructions. My whole life has been dedicated to Lilith, this was why Mekure made me, to care for her and protect her. I always believed that when the night of resurrection came she would take me. It simply never occurred to me that she would choose another..." For a moment she looked completely lost, like a frightened child thrown out into the world alone.

"William, what shall I do now? My only purpose was to serve her."

Bill put his arm around her shoulders. "She still needs you Berenice" he said comfortingly. "These people are your followers, she needs you to keep them true to her. When this is over, then...you can do whatever you wish. Make a life for yourself."

She gazed up at him. "But not with you?" she said sadly.

"No" said Bill, "not with me."

* * *

Half an hour later we were sitting on the podium in the main hall. Berenice had called her congregation together and explained the Goddess's instructions. They were not happy. Bill sat silent and immobile in his throne-like chair exactly as he had done on the night I had been brought before them. Well, with one slight difference. He was now wearing a pair of faded blue jeans! I was crouched on the floor beside his chair since he resolutely refused to let me out of his sight.

After ten minutes or so of argument and muttering from the congregation Berenice lost her temper and stood up angrily.

"I am the Prophet of the Goddess!" she cried, her small fangs protruding over her lower lip. "You will obey her or leave!"

Darius gave a smug little smile. "Do you wish us to obey her or you?" he asked. "Because there appears to be some discrepancy here between what we believed and what you are now proposing."

Bill raised his head and spoke for the first time "There is no discrepancy here. I know that most of you are true believers, that you wish only to serve the Goddess. But there are those of you who would use her as a cloak for your own bloodlust. Who read her sacred words and see them as an excuse to kill, to rape and to destroy. This is not the way forward for us. It would bring only destruction."

"Humans are merely food for us!" cried Darius angrily. "The Testament says so!"

"That is no excuse for wholesale murder!" said Bill. "It is perfectly possible to feed on humans without killing them. There is no reason to keep them and breed them like livestock as you have proposed. We can live alongside them in peace or they can wipe us out, it is our choice."

"That is not what the word of Lilith states!" snarled Darius.

Bill looked down at Darius for a moment and then bowed his head. When he raised it again and opened his eyes they were the cold, ice blue that I remembered. When he spoke, his voice had a strange resonance to it, as though it were coming from somewhere else and being channelled through him. I felt for him through the bond. When we had made love earlier I had been able to feel him within me, warm and comforting, but now I could feel something else with him. Something cold and powerful. I shivered and cowered back behind the chair.

"If that is what you believe then you have misunderstood me." He said. I heard Berenice give a little gasp and she sat down, her eyes fixed on him.

"Blessed be the children of man for they are banished from the night without end. They flame as sparks from a fire and last as long." He spoke as if he were quoting something and I guessed that this must be from the Vampire Bible.

"Do you recognise that Darius?" he asked.

Darius looked shocked for a moment and then turned and stormed out of the hall without another word.

Bill bowed his head again and then looked up and opened his eyes. He blinked and shook his head then looked down at me and smiled. I heaved a sigh of relief as I saw the warmth had returned to his eyes. He reached down and put his hand on my head, stroking my hair absently as he looked around, assessing the mood of the assembled congregation.

Just then there was a commotion by the entrance to the hall and the little blonde vampire came running up to the podium and began whispering to Berenice. She leaned towards Bill. "It would appear that your friends from the Authority have arrived" she said quietly. "Hayden tells me that several cars and a couple of Army trucks have pulled up in the lane and armed soldiers are surrounding the house."

"Very well" said Bill. "You will authorise him to let them in. We have nothing to hide."

I saw Hayden's eyes widen at this and he looked back at Berenice, waiting for instructions.

She raised an eyebrow. "Do as your God instructs you Hayden. Invite them in!"

There was a murmur of voices in the hall as the assembled vampires realised what was happening. Then there was a knock at the front door. I heard raised voices and footsteps and a group of people walked into the great hall. I peeped out from my vantage point behind Bill's chair and saw several people I recognised. Ulrich was in the lead with a large man in an Army uniform beside him. Behind him I saw Lydia and, oh no...that couldn't be Nan Flanagan?

With him were several other vampires none of whom I recognised but who I assumed were members of the Authority and half a dozen heavily armed soldiers, at least two of whom were vampires.

Ulrich's eyes widened when he saw Bill but he said nothing. Bill nodded to him politely. "Good evening Ulrich" he said. He turned to Berenice. "Berenice, this is Ulrich Von Schröder, Ulrich, this is Berenice. Please, join us." He gestured at the steps leading up to the platform where the two chairs stood.

Before Ulrich could move one of the side doors to the hall was flung open and Darius marched in dragging a girl by the hair. Her hands were up hiding her face as she tried to hold onto his arms but I could see from the colour of her hair that it was Lucy.

"Well just look what I've found heading out of the kitchens!" he said, pulling her into the centre of the hall.

Bill's face had gone completely blank and still. He stood up slowly. "Let go of her at once Darius" he ordered.

The group of vampires who had clustered around Darius and Lucy backed away hurriedly, sensing the threat in Bill's voice, but Darius ignored him.

"These creatures..." I heard Lucy give a little cry as he shook her, "were placed on the earth as food for us!" cried Darius. "No-one tells me what to do with my prey!" He gave Lucy a little push and she staggered forward a few steps and froze, suddenly realising that she was in the centre of a ring of vampires. I heard a slight click and noticed that several of the soldiers had shouldered their weapons and were watching Darius carefully.

"You lay a finger on her again you little creep and I will make you regret it!" hissed Bill, his enormously long fangs giving his voice a sibilant edge, like that of a snake.

"You'll do what?" asked Darius furiously. "You want us to believe that the Goddess lives in you? Don't make me laugh!" He glanced up at Berenice who was standing on the podium looking shocked. "You might be able to talk her around, she's infatuated with you, the poor fool. But don't think I'll ever accept this!"

He took a step towards Lucy who was standing, frozen with fright, where he had thrown her.

Bill's face twisted with anger and he flung up his hand, the palm facing towards Darius. For a moment I thought that a small tornado had landed in the open hallway. The heavy wooden bench at the base of the podium was flung aside and crashed against the opposite wall. Then the wave of force swept past Lucy without even stirring her hair and hit Darius full in the chest. He was picked up and flung against the far wall where he hung suspended, pinned against the elaborately carved eighteenth century wood panelling by the power of Bill's fury.

Bill prowled down the steps and across the hall towards him, holding up his hand and began to clench his fist. Darius let out a shriek of agony as though Bill had taken hold of his heart and was crushing it in his hand. Flickers of red light began to appear around him like static electricity and he thrashed against the wall screaming and gasping with the pain.

I stood up from behind Bill's chair and stepped forward into the stunned silence. "Bill" I whispered. "That's enough!"

Bill turned to look at me and I was shocked by the extent of the anger in his eyes. Then he visibly relaxed and his hand fell to his side. Darius slid limply down the wall and fell into a crumpled heap on the floor, where he lay still.

In the sudden silence one of the soldiers took a step towards Lucy, obviously intending to help her. She must have just caught the movement out of the corner of her eye and she panicked and ran. But to everyone's surprise she did not run to the soldiers, to her own kind. She ran to Bill, who put a protective arm around her shoulders and held her to him for a moment. Every human in the room looked shocked and then, one by one, the vampires began to kneel before him.

He turned and, still with his arm around Lucy, he escorted her up to the podium. As he passed, the kneeling Sanguinistas bowed their heads to the floor in submission.

I stepped forward and took Lucy's hand and Bill turned back to the assembly. "Ulrich, would you and your colleagues like to come this way. We have a lot to talk about!"

Ulrich came up to me and took me in his arms for a moment. "I've no idea what happened here" he said "but I'm so glad to see you're safe!"

Berenice had opened a door to the rear of the hallway which appeared to open onto what must once have been a dining room which now contained a large conference table.

"I think Miss Morgan should join us" said Ulrich, smiling down at me.

Nan looked utterly horrified at this suggestion. "What! But she's just..."

Bill's head turned slowly towards her, the whites of his eyes showing up bright against the blood red of his skin. "She's just what?" he asked softly.

The whole group froze, even the army personnel looked worried for a moment.

"She's just...the ideal person" said Nan through gritted teeth. A tiny smile twitched on Bill's lips for a moment.

"I'm so glad you agree Nan" said Ulrich with a grin, offering me his arm.


	12. Chapter 12

We had been talking, or at least everyone else had been, for about half an hour and were getting nowhere. The main problem seemed to be the difference between the attitudes of the vampires and the humans towards Bill, or possibly Lilith.

It had rapidly become obvious that the Army personnel present could not, or would not, accept that Bill was regarded by the Sanguinistas as a God. I suppose I could understand their point of view really. After all it was not so long ago that we hadn't known vampires existed at all, so who knew what they were or what powers they might have. After twenty minutes or so Bill had looked down at himself and said "well, I can see that this is wasted on you." As we watched the vivid colour of his skin began to fade and within a few minutes it was back to his normal ivory hue.

The Colonel, whose name I hadn't heard, and frankly wasn't interested in anyway, raised his eyebrows and replied "Nice! But it still doesn't make you a God!"

I decided that I'd had enough of this. "But does it matter?" I asked. There was a sudden silence as all heads turned to me.

"It isn't necessary that you believe it surely? Just that they do!" I said.

The Colonel glared at me across the table for a moment, then his young aide gave a tentative little cough. "The young lady has a point actually Sir" he said.

I gave him a little smile of thanks. "So long as they obey him" I said to the Colonel "what does it matter to you what their motivations are?"

"Good point!" said Ulrich. I think we've demonstrated that the Sanguinistas will obey him...without question!"

"And the rest of you?" said the Colonel aggressively.

Ulrich looked up at him in silence for a moment. "I think if they had witnessed what we have just seen, they would believe too." He said, looking more serious than I had ever seen him.

Bill turned his head slowly towards the Colonel. I noticed that the eyes of all the vampires were on him instantly. "The others do not matter" he said. "Those vampires who already mainstream have always been, and will continue to be, the responsibility of my colleagues in The Authority." He gave Ulrich a respectful little nod.

The Colonel gave a little grunt and sat down. "I guess you're right" he said gruffly. "Okay, lets get down to business shall we."

The aide reached into a briefcase and pulled out a thick pile of paperwork.

Well...there were a few times in the next two hours when I almost wished that Bill had, in fact, killed me! I'm sure it would have been less painful and certainly less boring! I did, however, gain a new respect for Nan's negotiating skills. She had a way of turning a point in her favour around until her opponent began to see it as a wonderful idea and wondered why he hadn't thought of it himself. I still couldn't stand her as a person mind you, but as a political tool, she was invaluable.

At one point Ulrich and the Colonel's aide were arguing about methods of dealing with vampires who did not fall in line with the Authority's rules. Ulrich was very reluctant to hand them over to the army for punishment unless the evidence was incontrovertible but the army wanted to be judge and jury, and possibly executioner as well. I was watched them arguing when they both suddenly fell silent, their eyes on Bill. I turned to him and gasped. He looked angry, which was not surprising, but this was enhanced by the swirls of deep red which had appeared again on his skin and were creeping up his neck onto his cheek.

I put my hand on his thigh under the table and stroked the rough denim gently, feeling the taut muscle relax under my hand. He gave a little sigh and I felt his hand close over mine and give it a little squeeze. He turned to me and smiled and I saw the colour fade again. I sat back in my chair and listened to the discussion while holding Bill's hand under the table.

Hours later we were back in his room and Bill was lying on his back on the bed complaining that his head ached! I sat down on the edge of the bed with a sigh. "I think you're going to have to get used to it you know." I said.

Bill sat up and leaned back against the head of the bed. "Yes, I know" he sighed "You know I never wanted to get involved in politics."

"Perhaps you could just be a figurehead for the movement!" I said. "You are their God after all, they shouldn't expect you to get involved in the detail."

He reached over and pulled me up alongside him. "Well yes, hopefully I'll be able to do that once we get this coalition set up. With Lilith backing them the Authority shouldn't have any trouble speaking for all of us. Then they can do all the negotiating, they're used to it after all!" He turned and looked at me. "Do you know I don't think I've even thanked you properly have I?" he asked. "Everything's been so hectic..."

I snuggled up against him happily. "After what Ulrich told me I just had to come and see for myself. I knew you weren't gone completely because I could still feel you. I just wanted to get you back."

"You were taking a huge risk coming here at all" he said. "Ulrich really should have had more sense!"

"He didn't know!" I said. "Don't go blaming him, it was all my idea!"

Bill turned to me looking puzzled. "But how did you know where this place was if Ulrich didn't tell you?" he asked.

"Ah...yes" I answered, a little guiltily. "I...um...I sort of hacked your e-mail."

He frowned at me. "Well, there wasn't actually any hacking involved!" I said quickly. "You left your laptop in the study..."

He leaned in towards me and kissed me gently. "When I think of what might have happened to you..."

"When I think of what did happen to me...!"

"How did you get in?" he asked.

"Oh that was easy!" I said "I just hung around outside and let one of the guards catch me. I was dragged inside and slung into a storeroom for a hour or so then hauled up before you and Berenice. Then they dragged us downstairs to the basement, made us strip off and slung us in the cells."

Bill was looking horrified. "Oh Alex you poor thing! They made you strip? What on earth for?"

"Well I did ask actually...but I just got a slap around the face." I said. "I imagine that it was just because they could, and humans tend to feel much more helpless and less likely to put up a fight when they're stark naked!"

"Was that the same guard who broke your arm?" asked Bill, his eyes narrowed. I noticed that his fangs had slid out a little. "I think I need to have a little word with him!"

"I don't really think that would be a good idea do you?" I asked. I put my hand on his chest and began to stroke him gently. "Um...Bill?" I asked carefully. "What exactly did you do to Darius?"

"I'm not entirely sure" he answered. "But when I thought of what Lucy had been through in this house at the hands of vampires and realised that he intended to kill her, for no better reason than to demonstrate that he could, well...I just lost my temper. I was furious with him, I wanted him to suffer, I wanted to inflict agonising pain on him and so Lilith obliged me..." He turned to me. "You know...I don't know that I would have stopped, or even if I could have stopped, for anyone else."

"Why?" I asked. "What's different about me?"

"I told you before that she fears you, but it's not that exactly." Bill was clearly struggling to express some concept that he did not really understand himself. "She fears my feelings for you. Because she doesn't understand them. She understands fear, anger even lust, but that's not what I feel for you" he glanced at me for a moment. "Well not all the time anyway!" he smiled. "But love, tenderness...she doesn't seem to understand them."

"You know, that's really quite sad" I said thoughtfully.

"I think that's what makes her so dangerous" said Bill. "She has so much power and yet has no compassion, she doesn't even understand the concept!"

I leaned against him with my head on his shoulder. "Just as well you have enough for both of you." I murmured in his ear. "You can borrow her power and she can borrow your compassion, together you'll make a perfect leader for the coalition."

"I'm lucky to have you with me" he said softly. "You say things to me that no-one else would dare to say."

"Well, yes!" I said. "Only I'd be stupid enough to take the mickey out of a God!"

Bill laughed and took my hand. "Promise me something Alex! Promise that you'll never leave me! I know it's going to be difficult for you from now on but I need you now more than ever. I need you to tease me, to take the mickey out of me. To say those things that other people won't dare to say. To stop me from taking myself too seriously. I need you to keep me sane. To remind me what it is to be human."

I felt the hot prickling of tears behind my eyes and struggled to keep them back. "Of course I will. You don't think I've gone to all this trouble just to leave you to Berenice do you?"

He chuckled. "Now you know there's nothing between me and Berenice. That was over a century ago!"

"But does she know that?" I asked.

"Yes, she does now!" he said firmly. "We're going to have to work together so I need you to know that, to believe it. She could be a great help to me...but I'll tell her to leave if that's what you want."

"No, you're right" I said. "You need her help. I'll just have to trust you."

He leaned over and kissed me gently. "You know you can trust me" he whispered. "I'd never do anything to hurt you...I love you." He put his arm around me and pulled me to him, holding my body tight against his. His mouth found mine again, and there was no gentleness, no tenderness in his kiss this time, only passion, need, and desperate desire. I returned his kiss with an equal passion and felt his hands reach for my shirt and tear it from my body. I just had time to realise that it was the only one I had before I found myself pressed back into the pile of pillows on the soft feather mattress, Bill's mouth exploring the warm exposed flesh of my stomach, his hands busily unfastening my jeans and slipping down inside them to explore other areas.

His tongue trailed a line down my stomach and I felt his hands tugging at my jeans. I raised my hips and he slid my jeans and panties down my legs, pulling them off and tossing them carelessly to the floor. He moved upwards, his lips lingering at my chest, burrowing his face between my breasts, kissing the sides, the soft warm skin beneath them, before taking one in his mouth, teasing the hardened tip of one nipple with his tongue, grazing it lightly with his fangs until I gasped. His hands shifted to my hips, pulling me closer and then his mouth was back on the warm skin of my stomach. His lips moved over skin that grew ever more sensitive as he neared the place between my legs. I felt my muscles clench in anticipation as his tongue moved up over the soft skin of my thigh, sliding between my folds and probing deep into me. I gasped and clutched desperately at the sheets as I felt Bill's strong hands move to hold me down, pinning my writhing body in place as he continued to tease me. Fastening his lips over my twitching flesh and sucking gently at me, drawing a whining gasp from my own lips as I felt my mind empty of everything but the softness of his mouth against me.

"Oh Bill, please...I...I'm..." With a muffled cry I began to convulse in his arms. He held me against him until I lay still and then swung himself up onto his knees, crouching over me, his eyes wide with desire. He slid a hand down between my legs and dipped a fingertip into my warm wet opening.

"Hmm...are you ready for me my darling?" he murmured softly.

Oh my..., I was so ready! I reached up and ran my hand down his stomach, following the line of hair that trailed down his body and plunged between his legs. My eyes widened as I felt my fingers brush over his stiffness and curl around the thick, hard shaft, moving him gently, positioning him, wriggling my hips and spreading my thighs apart to accommodate him. He sank down into me pushing himself in slowly and deeply, giving my body time to become accustomed to the size of him. When he withdrew, it was also slowly, so that his length stroked me as attentively his tongue had; and when he pushed back in, it was with a long roll of his hips down into mine that made me clench around him, setting off a rippling sensation from the centre of my being.

After the first few strokes I wrapped my legs around his hips, digging my heels against the top of his buttocks and clinging to him as if I were drowning. I only vaguely noticed the red marks swirling slowly over his skin as he began to move more strongly within me, thrusting harder and deeper as his own climax approached. Holding me down on the mattress by my shoulders his elongated fangs found my throat just as he gave a final thrust and exploded inside me with a roar. I expected him to drink deeply but instead he withdrew his fangs and began to lick gently at the little wounds he had made as the red tattoo-like marks faded from his skin and he collapsed on top of me.


	13. Chapter 13

I woke at about midday and rolled over in bed stretching myself out against Bill's lifeless body. I really wanted to go back to sleep again but I had to use the bathroom. Grumbling to myself I got up and headed for the door. I was just about to get back into bed when I noticed an envelope on the table by the bedside. Curious, I sat down on the edge of the huge four poster and picked it up. It had my name on it! Curiouser and curiouser, I thought as I pulled open the flap. It felt heavy and the reason became clear when I opened it and a set of keys fell out into my hand. Folded around them was a note in Bill's elegant handwriting.

_Darling Alex,_

_I would find it impossible to express the extent of my gratitude for what you have done for me in the last few nights. You risked your life for me, knowing full well that if you failed I would, very likely, kill you. Without your intervention, everything that I am might have been lost forever and my kind, destroyed in a catastrophic war against yours._

_Nothing I could give you would ever repay you for this but I hope this will be a start at least. Just promise me that you'll be careful with it!_

_I love you more than I can say,_

_Bill_

A tear dropped onto the note, smudging Bill's words and making the ink run. Oh Bill, I thought, wiping my eyes with the back of my hand, I only ever wanted to get you back! I looked down at the keys in my hand and realised with a slight shock that they were car keys! He'd bought me a new car! There was no logo on the leather key fob, only the name of a dealer which I didn't recognise. What was it?

I jumped up and raced back into the bathroom to wash and clean my teeth, my sleepiness completely forgotten in my excitement. Pulling on my jeans, an old shirt I found in the closet and my shoes which I'd found in the basement store room, I turned to the door. Pausing for a moment, I turned back and crept to Bill's side of the bed leaning over to kiss him gently. "Thanks Bill!" I whispered. He shifted slightly in his sleep and murmured something but I was already heading out of the door.

The enormous steel security door was locked and bolted and it must have taken me about five minutes to work out how to undo all the bolts. I was muttering crossly to myself as I finally heaved it open but to be fair, I supposed the paranoia was justified! I stepped out into the sunshine and there, parked neatly on the gravel drive before the front door, was my new car.

For a moment I forgot to breathe. It was a sports car. My dream car. A TVR Chimaera in a deep rich blue. Finally remembering to take a breath I went down the steps in a daze. She was the most beautiful car I had ever seen. I walked around her examining her carefully, a neat little two seater with a detachable roof in a matching dark blue fabric. The sleek elegant bonnet was almost half the length of the car with two curving vents along the sides to help cool the massive four and a half litre V8 engine.

I pressed the button on the key fob and heard the "clunk" as the locks disengaged. She had no door handles to mar her elegant lines but when I pressed a button hidden under the wing mirror, the driver's door popped open invitingly. The interior was a rich cream leather with blue stitching and blue carpets with cream piping. I knew that TVR had stopped building these cars about ten years ago and, judging by the registration number, she was about twelve years old but she was perfect, a classic, she looked like a new car! Where on earth had Bill managed to find her? I slid carefully into the driver's seat and slipped the key into the ignition. I turned the key tentatively but nothing happened. Looking down to examine the ignition I saw a little red light blinking. An immobiliser? I pressed the button on the key fob again and the red light went out.

Taking a deep breath I turned the key again. On the first click I heard a hiss as the fuel pump fired up and then on the second, the harsh cough of the starter motor. After two turns the engine caught and fired with a roar. I sat back in the leather seat listening to the growl of the big V8. Oh yes! This was wonderful! I pressed the throttle gently and the growl of the engine deepened to a roar. I was turning my head to reach for the seat belt when I noticed the front door was still open. I couldn't leave it like that could I? With a sigh I reached for the keys and switched the engine off again. It was only then that I noticed another key on the ring. Could that be a front door key?

I jumped out of the car and raced back up the steps. The key seemed to fit. I stood on the step for a moment, indecisive. If I pulled the door shut and it locked and the key didn't work I'd be locked out. But would that matter? I could get back in after dark easily enough couldn't I? Bill might worry if I wasn't there when he woke, but my phone was still in the pocket of my jeans so I could always call him. I pulled the door shut with a sharp tug and tried the key. It worked! Great, I could get back in when I returned. Feeling more comfortable I hopped back into the car and fired up the engine again. I snapped on the seat belt, mindful of Bill's instructions to be careful, shut the door and slipped the car into gear. Easing up the clutch gently I felt her shake as her big back tyres slipped a little on the loose gravel and headed gently down the driveway. Once out on the road with a little more grip I opened her up and was soon flying down the country lanes. With every mile I got to know her a little better and after a couple of hours we purred back into the village and pulled up in the car park by the river next to a little pub I had noticed on my first visit. I found a few banknotes in my back pocket and headed into the bar.

I was sitting outside on a bench in the sun watching the ducks on the river when a voice called my name. I turned around to see Lucy coming out of the bar with a drink in her hand.

"Lucy! Hi!" I called. "Come and join me?"

She came over and sat down opposite me, putting her drink down on the wooden table.

"Hi Alex" she said with a smile.

"Hey, how are you?" I asked. "I kind of lost track of you last night."

She grinned back at me. "Yes, you looked pretty busy at the time!" she said. "One of the soldiers took me outside and there were three Army trucks parked out there. He put me in the Colonel's staff car and drove me home. I live just outside the village. My parents were frantic, I'd been missing for two days!"

"Oh my...what did you tell them?" I asked, wondering if maybe Bill should have glamoured her after all.

"I told them I'd stayed over at a friend's house. Said I'd had too much to drink and forgot to call them. Frankly they were so relieved to see me that I don't think they were really interested."

I took a swig of my wine, watching her carefully. "Why?" I asked eventually. "Why didn't you tell them the truth?"

"I didn't want them to know the truth" she said simply. "I don't think they could have coped with it. Besides, if it weren't for Bill I'd have died in that house, twice in fact. I didn't want to cause trouble for him."

I reached over and took her hand. "Thank you" I said. "I'm very grateful, and he will be too."

"He's going to help us isn't he?" she asked. "He's going to try and stop all the killing, try to get vampires to live in peace with us?"

"That's the plan, yes" I answered.

"They worship him don't they? I saw them all bow down to him. What is he Alex? Do you know?"

For the next hour or so we sat in the warm afternoon sun and I tried to explain my relationship with Bill and what he had become. It wasn't easy since I didn't really understand much about it myself but she accepted what I told her.

"There's going to be a lot of work to do mind you" I said with a sigh. "There are a lot of humans who hate and fear vampires, and I can't say that I entirely blame them." I looked over at her with a smile. "After what we saw in that house I can quite understand it in fact. Although I also know vampires who are perfectly accepting of humans, kind and gentle even. Who only want to live their lives in peace alongside humans, without having to hide their very existence from us." I thought for a moment. "Well maybe "living" isn't quite the right word, but you know what I mean!"

Lucy laughed. "Yes, I do" she said. She reached into her bag and took out a notebook. "Look, this is my number" she wrote it down, tore out the page and handed it to me. "If there's anything I can do to help..."

I was astonished. "After everything you went through, you're still prepared to help us?" I asked.

"Well, as I said, if it weren't for Bill I'd probably have died in that house. I'd like to help him" she answered with a smile. "Besides, I never want anyone else to have to go through the horror that we went through in there. If you and Bill can stop that from happening again then I feel I should do all I can to help. After all, I have first hand experience of what could happen if you fail!"

I reached out and took her hand. "Thanks Lucy, I'll tell him and I'm sure he'll be very grateful for the offer."

* * *

I got back to the house before dusk and parked carefully to one side of the driveway. Opening the huge front door I slipped inside and slid back all the security bolts and locks so that hopefully no-one would notice that anyone had been outside the house. I caught myself thinking this and wondered for a moment why I was concerned. After all, I was the favourite of their God wasn't I? I could do whatever I liked!

Then I remembered that Darius had been carried off by his friends and was presumably recovering somewhere. I shivered. Somehow I didn't think he'd be too happy to catch me wandering around his house alone. Although after what Bill had done to him he might think twice about harming me.

I decided that I didn't want to take the risk of running into anyone and hurried up the stairs and along the corridor to Bill's room. Opening the door quietly I saw that he was still sleeping and I crept over to the big four poster bed and looked down at him. He looked peaceful and relaxed but I wondered what was going on inside his head. Was Lilith talking to him? Trying to influence him while he slept? I kicked my shoes off and wriggled out of my jeans. Careful not to disturb him I climbed into the bed beside him and lay on my side watching him.

After a few moments he seemed to sense my presence and opened his eyes. He smiled at me and then looked puzzled. "Why are you wearing a man's shirt?" he asked.

"Because you ripped my T shirt last night" I answered, tapping him on the chest with my forefinger for emphasis "and it's the only one I have here! I found this in the dresser over there."

He gave a sly little smile. "Up and dressed huh? I guess you found your present them?" I flung myself on him and began kissing him frantically.

"Whoa! Easy there girl!" He put his hands on my waist and held me off a little, laughing. "I gather from that little demonstration that you approve of it?"

"Oh Bill, she's wonderful! She's just perfect! Where on earth did you find her?"

He grinned at my excitement and pulled me down next to him, his arm around me.

"I borrowed a laptop after you'd fallen asleep last night" he explained. "There's quite a wide range out there, different ages, prices and conditions. But fortunately one of the biggest dealers is just down the road from here so I called them and told them to send over the best one they had." He kissed me tenderly. "I see that it lived up to your exacting standards."

"Mmm...yes, it certainly did!" I murmured, cuddling up to him. "It's the best present ever!"

He smiled down at me happily and kissed me again. "Oh good, I'm so pleased you like it."

We lay comfortably together for a while, Bill gazing thoughtfully up at the crimson canopy above us.

"Do you think I'm doing the right thing?" he asked suddenly. "Getting the Authority involved? working with humans? It's just going to be a constant struggle, arguments...I could just deal with it all myself you know. Lilith could make them obey me."

"No!" I said firmly.

Bill looked surprised at this. "That was very emphatic" he said. "Why not?"

I lay back wondering how to put my thoughts into words. "There's an old saying Bill" I said. "Power corrupts – and absolute power corrupts absolutely." I reached out and stroked his cheek gently. "I don't doubt for a moment that you're capable of dealing with all of them on your own, but you shouldn't. The more you exercise power, the more of it you want, and I suspect that the more you use Lilith's power, the more power she will have over you."

Bill lay back and put his hand over mine. "You are so young" he said. "Little more than a child compared to most of us, and yet wiser than any of us."

I smiled to myself. "With great power comes great responsibility!" I said solemnly.

Bill looked puzzled for a moment. "Winston Churchill?" he hazarded.

"Spiderman!" I said with a giggle.

Bills eyes widened in surprise and then he gave a great roar of laughter and caught me up in his arms.

"You must ensure that you only use your superpowers for good!" I gasped through hysterical giggles.

There were tears in Bill's eyes, he was laughing so hard. "You see!" he gasped "this is why I need you! No-one else in the world would dare to compare me to a comic book superhero!"

I lay with my head on his chest trying to catch my breath. "But that doesn't make it any the less true though" I said.

"No" he answered. "That's why you are so invaluable to me. You have an amazing ability to keep me normal, well...relatively normal anyway!"

I rubbed my hand over his stomach, petting him as I would a furry animal. "Well I hate to mention it but you should probably be getting up. Checking up on what your worshippers are up to."

"You should be getting something to eat!" he said. "You need to get your strength back." He rolled over and kissed my throat, nuzzling gently at the spot on my neck that he loved to feed from. "I'm getting hungry myself!"

"I got something to eat at the Pub in the village while I was out" I said, wriggling away from him and getting out of the bed. "Oh! I forgot. I saw Lucy there."

Bill sat up. "Is she okay?" he asked. "I didn't see her again after the incident with Darius."

"Yes, she seems fine" I said, pulling my jeans back on. "One of the soldiers drove her home in the Colonel's staff car."

"That Colonel was useful for something then?" said Bill rather scornfully. "I did wonder!"

"She gave me her number. Said she'd be happy to help if you needed her."

Bill stopped halfway out of bed. "Really?" he asked. "I would have thought she would never want to see another vampire as long as she lived!"

"She's a very sweet girl" I said, fastening my jeans. "And you made a very big impression on her. It really shocked all the humans in the hall last night when she ran to you for protection. They had just watched you use some terrible, unknown power on Darius and yet this helpless little girl still felt safer with you than with anyone else in that room. That story's going to run and run!"

Bill stood up and gazed down at me solemnly. "I didn't intend it to happen that way" he said.

I smiled up at him. "I know that Bill" I said. "It's just the way you are. And that's why you're the right person...possibly the only person to do this."

* * *

Ulrich and his colleagues in the Authority had tried to insist that Bill returned with them to London for more talks, but Bill was determined that he was going home with me. The only concession he was prepared to make was that he would stay at the Mill House since it was closer to London. He also reluctantly allowed the Authority to provide him with a security detail consisting of five very large, very scary looking vampires in combat clothing occupying two large blacked out vans. The vans were now sitting on the sweeping gravel driveway as Berenice and Ulrich tried to persuade Bill to travel in one of them.

"I thought we'd agreed that Gerry was going to come and pick up your car?" said Ulrich.

"Yes, that's right he is" said Bill with a smile "but Alex is going to give me a lift home."

There was a shocked silence. For a moment it was almost as if I could see into their heads. Neither of them could imagine allowing their God to put himself at risk with a frail human girl in an overpowered sports car. But neither of them had the courage to actually say so in front of me.

I smiled brightly at them, got into the car and opened the passenger door. "Are you coming?" I asked Bill.

With a polite nod to Ulrich and Berenice he got into the car and fastened his seat belt, somewhat ostentatiously. The disapproving expressions on both their faces had annoyed me intensely so I popped the clutch and roared off down the drive in a highly satisfying shower of gravel.

Bill turned to me with a slightly worried expression. "You will be careful with this won't you?" he said. "I'd never forgive myself if you killed yourself in it!"

"Yes! Yes! I promise." I said, pulling out of the ornate wrought iron gates and onto the main road. "It was just the obvious reluctance to let you get in a car with a mere human….."

Bill smiled gently. "Yes, I know. It's ridiculous really. They think that those security guards are going to be necessary to protect me? I could wipe out all five of them just by thinking about it."

My mouth dropped open and I turned my head to look at him. "Are you serious?" I asked.

"Eyes on the road please!" said Bill. "Yes, I'm perfectly serious."

"Oh Bill..." I didn't know what to say to this, so I concentrated on driving instead. I could see the two black vans behind me and I smiled to myself and began to speed up a little. Whatever training Ulrich's security vamps had received it certainly wasn't as drivers! Within five miles or so I had lost them. Bill was watching me with a tiny smile and I caught his eyes glancing in the mirrors a few times. He gave me an indulgent smile.

"You are aware of the fact that they don't know where the Mill House is?" he asked patiently.

"I'm counting on it!" I replied.

He laughed. "Look, I know they're annoying but I really think you should pull over and let them catch up."

"Oh...you're no fun!" I grumbled, pulling into a layby and turning off the engine.

"No?" he asked, leaning over to me and putting his hand behind my head. I leaned in towards him and his mouth closed over mine. After a minute or two he pulled back and glanced over his shoulder. "How long do you think we've got?" he asked with a seductive little smile.

"Not long enough" I answered, looking up into the mirror. "Here they come."

The driver of the first van had obviously spotted us as he slowed to allow me to pull out in front of him. I saw the bad tempered glare he gave me through the windscreen so I drove sedately the rest of the way back to the Mill House. I pulled up in the yard, hopped quickly out of the car and fled into the house, leaving Bill to deal with them.

Later that evening as I curled up on the sofa I noticed the carved wooden box containing the vampire testament on a shelf beside the fireplace. I got up and opened it carefully, wondering what was written on the ancient papyrus scroll.

"Perhaps I should get you an English translation?"

I jumped guiltily and turned to see Bill leaning on the kitchen door frame.

"It's okay" he said, coming over to me "in fact I think you should read it. You probably won't like it very much but it will help you to understand how Lilith's worshippers think. That knowledge could be very useful to you in future. That is...if you still intend to help me?"

I put the box down carefully and turned back to him. "Of course I will. I'll do anything I can to help you Bill, you know that."

He reached over to me and brushed my hair gently back from my face with his fingertips.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked, concern written in his eyes.

I stepped forward and he gathered me up in his arms. "What is it precious?" he asked.

"I had a nightmare last night" I said quietly. "I was back in that cell, naked and shivering with cold and fear, waiting to die." I looked up at him, into his gentle blue eyes. "We can't let that happen again Bill. Not if there's any way we can stop it." I sighed and he hugged me tighter. "I know it's probably happening somewhere right now and I can't bear to think about it. Anything I can do to help you, I will."

Bill gazed down at me sadly. "Things are not going to change immediately, you know that. What we are doing is trying to change habits, a way of life that vampires have followed for centuries. But at least now we'll have Lilith's power with us instead of against us." He ran his fingers through my hair stroking it gently. "That's thanks to you Alex" he said "you've already done more than anyone could reasonably expect. You'll be with me all the time and my first priority will aways be to keep you safe."

He turned suddenly to look out of the window into the night and I saw the darker shadow of one of the black clad security guards patrolling outside.

Bill gave a little sigh. "Somehow I don't think my existence will ever be quite the same again, but I can cope with that as long as I have you."

"Then you'll be fine" I said, smiling up at him. "Because you'll always have me."


	14. Chapter 14

_**This should really come between Chapters 8 and 9 but I wasn't sure that it would work. Well you can decide for yourself!**_

It was the smell I noticed first. That distinctive scent of warm earth and rotting vegitation overlaid with the sharper smell of newly cut grass. I was moving slowly, rocking comfortably back and fore. I opened my eyes to find myself sitting in a swing. It felt natural to be here, familiar somehow. My bare feet brushed gently against rough wood with each swing. That was odd, I thought. Where were my shoes?

I looked down at myself to discover that I was wearing a rough, homespun shirt and heavy cotton trousers, held up with braces. Looking up I saw that the swing was on a porch...a long porch running across the front of a gracious old house. With something of a shock, I recognised it. This was my house! But no...this couldn't be right. The old wooden swing had long ago rotted away by the time I returned to my home in Bon Temps. I looked up at the house and saw that the curtains in the windows were freshly washed and the paintwork was bright and new.

"Where am I?" I muttered to myself, putting a hand up to my head.

"We are inside your mind William" said a voice. "This is one of your dearest memories. We need to talk and I thought you would be comfortable here."

I looked around me, puzzled. The far end of the porch was in darkness and as I watched a woman stepped out of the shadows and came towards me. She was naked and her smooth skin glistened with blood. Her long hair was slick with blood and hung loosely down her back.

"Lilith!" I breathed. "Why are you here?"

"You drank my blood William" she answered. "Don't you remember that?"

My head felt as though it was full of fluff but I vaguely recalled..."but wasn't Berenice...?"

She threw her head back and laughed, her long white fangs gleaming as the moonlight caught them. "Berenice has been one of my most faithful servants" she said. "But she was not suitable to become the vessel. You have a far greater knowledge of the world than she. You will be of much greater value to me."

I stiffened slightly at her tone. "I will?" I asked. "In what way?"

"You will give over to me the use of your body William" she said with a cold smile. "You will be the vessel for the Goddess."

I was horrified. "I'll do no such thing!" I said firmly.

"But William" she purred "you have no choice in the matter. You drank the blood."

I stared up at her. My mind felt blurred and confused but something wasn't right here.

"It seems so long ago..." I said weakly.

"Two nights" she replied.

I sat watching her carefully. "You have had control of me for two nights?" I asked. "If I have no choice in the matter, then why do you need to speak with me at all?"

Yes! There it was! A flash of anger and frustration in her eyes.

I gave her a little smile. "Is it not proving to be quite as easy as you anticipated?" I asked. I glanced up at the house in which I had spent the happiest years of my human life. "My wife always said that I was the most stubborn of men!"

Lilith crouched down before me and glared angrily into my eyes. "It's that girl isn't it?" she hissed. "Her blood has given you the strength to defy me!"

Alex! Suddenly I felt myself surrounded by her warmth. The delicious scent of her blood filled my nostrils, tinged with a slight hint of her perfume. I blinked and felt the fuzziness in my head beginning to clear.

Lilith put a hand on my knee. "You don't need her William!" she whispered. "I can give you all the strength, all the power you could ever need. You have only to ask."

"But you haven't though, have you?" I asked. "Alex didn't wait for me to ask for her help. She knew I needed her."

She stood up and backed away slightly, looking suddenly uncertain.

"Since you are a guest in my mind, perhaps you wouldn't mind putting some clothes on?" I asked with growing confidence. "I find that somewhat...distracting."

She gave a sly little smile and stood boldly before me, one hip thrust slightly forward. "Most males find it attractive" she said.

"I expect they do!" I said with a smile. "But for how long?"

She put her head on one side and regarded me with a new respect. "I knew that I had chosen well" she said. "You could be a true partner to me." She made a curious gesture and suddenly she was wearing a white linen robe of the type that Berenice used to wear. "Is that better?" she asked.

"Much better!" I said. "So why do you want me Lilith. What is it that you need me for?"

An old cane chair of the type that I remembered from Caroline's kitchen appeared behind her and she sat down gracefully. "My children must rise up William" she explained. "They must take their proper place as the rulers of this world. And I must lead them."

"Yes, I thought so." I sighed.

She put her arms on her knees and leaned forward gazing intently at me. "This is my destiny William!" she said urgently. "I was the firstborn. Adam's children were never meant to rule this earth. They murdered me William!" her eyes began to glow red in the darkness. I could see that, although this had happened many thousands of years ago, to her, it was as painful as any recent memory. "They destroyed me, tore my body into pieces. They must pay for this! They must be punished!"

"But Lilith! The men who did this to you are long dead!" I searched frantically for something which might appease her. "Perhaps this is their punishment. That they live such brief lives compared to us?"

She sat back a little and appeared to consider this. Glancing up at the house she asked casually "what is this place?"

"You're in my head" I said. "Don't you know?"

"I know that it is somewhere you loved, somewhere you made many happy memories. It is a place that means a lot to you, that is why I chose it for our talk. I felt that you would be happy to be here."

"This is my home" I explained. "The house where I was born, where I lived with my parents and my brother and sister and later with my wife and my own children."

She was watching me with her head on one side, clearly trying to understand my emotional attachment to this place. She looked up suddenly, startled by something beyond my senses. "She is waking!" she said.

As she spoke I felt darkness closing in on me. I blinked and found myself lying in the huge canopied bed in Darius's house, looking down at Alex. She was as pale as a ghost, her blue black hair spread out around her on the pillow and blood trickled from a pair of fang marks in her throat. What had I done? Just then she opened her eyes and looked up at me.

I smiled down at her. "Hello Alex!" I said...


End file.
